Retribution
by Julie Horwitz
Summary: JaKal and NeferTina face Tia for the last time. Story three in a trilogy.


** Disclaimer:  ** This is a work of fanfiction. All characters and situations belonging to the animated series "Mummies Alive!" are copyrighted to DIC Enterprises. Everything else, including original characters, is of my own creation.

** Author's Notes: ** This is the third and final story in my "Reality's Prism" trilogy. This completes my "Mummies Alive!" what-if? saga. It is strongly recommended that you have read the prior two stories, "Redemption" and "Reprisal", before you start this one. This is a direct continuation.  
I'd like to remind all my readers that I do not write from a historically accurate perspective. I try to be as true to the cartoon's portrayal of Ancient Egypt as possible while taking creative license as well. There are some researched elements, but not many. Please keep this in mind while reading so any historical errors do not take away from your enjoyment of the story.  
This story contains violence and some adult language. It is not recommended for younger readers.  
All comments and questions may be sent to me at:  
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the story.

_ ** Retribution ** _  
by  
Julie Horwitz

Dana Hunter was playing on the swings when all of a sudden she was hit by a wave of emotion. The unexpected impact nearly threw her from her seat. It was mostly fear, but there was a tinge of confusion as well. She quickly brought her swing to a stop and tried to figure out where it was coming from.

She closed her eyes and tentatively reached out with her mind. Although sensing the emotions was easy, it was a difficult task to pinpoint whom they were coming from. The only people she could easily read were Mom, Dad, Monica, and John. She figured that it was probably because they were her family. Maybe when she got older she would get better at reading other people. After all, she was only seven!

The fear and confusion seemed to be coming from somewhere ahead of her. She got to her feet and looked out into the distance. The only thing out there was Thomas Cane's "private" field. And, in the middle of the field, much to her disbelief, stood a really little girl.

The girl, who didn't look much older than three or four, way too young to be in school, was just standing in Thomas' turf. What the heck was she doing there? And where were her parents? She was lucky Thomas and his fellow fifth grade bullies, especially that creep Vanessa Lynch, hadn't seen her yet. Otherwise the little girl would be toast. Thomas had informed the entire student body that anyone who dared go onto his field would be, as Vanessa had put it, "killed". So far the only person who had ever crossed the line and lived to tell about it was Monica.

As far as Dana was concerned, Monica was the coolest person in the universe. Monica, the older of the twins by a few minutes, was the self-proclaimed "heroine" of the school. Participating in more fights than any other student in the history of Rose Street Elementary, Monica had saved countless kids from scary bullies like Thomas and his friends ever since kindergarten. She could fight like no one Dana had ever seen. Unfortunately her good deeds went unsung by the adults of the school, who kept having her suspended. (Monica had already racked up four suspensions this year alone.) Monica, knowing that she had done a good deed, didn't ever seem to mind.

The little girl was too far away for Dana to call out to her. Besides, that would only draw Thomas' attention. The only way to get her off the field without Thomas seeing her would be to call out to her telepathically, which would probably scare her to death. When she had been very little, she had made the mistake of calling out to someone in their mind and had frightened them badly. She had never done it again since, unless the person knew about her abilities.

She looked around. She didn't see Thomas or his nasty friends anywhere but that didn't mean they weren't keeping an eye on their turf. She had no other choice but to mentally call to the girl. It was the only way to help her.

_Little girl,_ she sent. _You need to get off of that field. It's dangerous._

Amazingly, the girl turned to look at her. _Where's my mommy?_ she asked.

As soon as she received the reply and sensed her energy, she realized that this wasn't just an ordinary little girl. This was a spirit. No one could see the girl but her. This made things a lot easier. She could just stay where she was and "talk" to her, helping her find her way to the Light.

Dana had been helping lost ghosts and spirits for as long as she could remember. She didn't understand why people thought they were so scary. After all, they were just people too. They just happened to be dead.

The little girl had obviously died and not known to go into the Light, which was common for children this young. They needed assistance in getting where they needed to go. Dana was one of the few people who were able to help them. It was a service she was happy to provide. Her parents had always told her to help those in need, and these ghosts and spirits, were most definitely in need.

Just as she was about to tell the girl that everything was going to be okay, a hand roughly clamped down on Dana's shoulder.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Wannabe's little sister," the voice of Thomas Cane said from behind her. "Just what do you think you're looking at, Freak?"

_Uh-oh!_ she panicked as the rest of his gang spread out to encircle her. Where had they come from? How had they been able to sneak up on her without her picking up on their emotions? _Probably because I was so busy with the girl,_ she thought glumly. It was only now that she was able to pick up on the dark and cruel feelings coming from the bullies.

Why were they even bothering with her anyway? She wasn't even _on_ their turf!

"Yeah, what do you find so interesting about our part of the playground?" Vanessa wanted to know as she came to stand in front of her. The blonde looked as nasty as ever. "Thinking of paying us a little visit?"

"N-no," Dana managed to stammer.

Thomas snickered. "Good. Looks like at least one member of your family has a functioning brain cell. I'm sure you know what happens to anyone who steps over the line."

"Your dumb sister almost found out a few times," Vanessa said. "Lucky for her, she was able to avoid us until the end of recess."

"Unfortunately for you, you aren't going anywhere until we say so," Thomas continued.

"You know, Thomas, I was thinking that maybe we could use the little freak here to send Miss Wannabe a message," Vanessa said thoughtfully. "Mess her up real bad. Monica would think twice before crossing us again."

"Hmm," Thomas murmured, releasing his grip on Dana's shoulder. She fell to her knees. "She would, wouldn't she? The freak means a lot of her. Good thinking, Nessie."

"Any time," Vanessa told him, smiling cruelly.

Dana gulped. She was so scared. She had seen what they had done to kids when Monica hadn't been around to stop them. She was going to be in pain for weeks.

Both Vanessa and Thomas laughed. She knew it was because they were amused at how afraid of them she was. She could feel their intense pleasure.

"She definitely doesn't take after her stupid sister," Vanessa commented. "She's a wuss."

"Just like that pussy brother of hers," Thomas agreed. "Mr. Musician."

"So, Thomas, what should we do to her first?" Vanessa asked. "She looks too weak to take much. We need to make what we can get in count."

"Yep," Thomas smirked. "She's a scrawny one. Won't be too much fun if she doesn't stay conscious for long."

Dana shut her eyes and curled up into a ball as she saw both Thomas and Vanessa starting to close in on her. She didn't want to see what they were going to do to her.

"You're in for a world of pain, Freak," Thomas told her menacingly.

Dana started to cry.

"Actually," came a new voice, "I think it's _you_ who's in for a world of pain."

Dana opened her eyes. That was Monica's voice! She looked up and felt joyous relief to see both Monica and John. If anyone could save her, the twins could. Well, maybe just Monica. John wasn't exactly the best fighter.

"Let our sister go, Tommy boy," Monica continued. "Or you'll regret the day you were born."

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots," Thomas retorted sarcastically. "I'm _so_ scared."

"Yeah, like you could really hurt us," Vanessa added. "You're just a puny fourth grader."

Monica just smiled and folded her arms. "If I'm such a 'puny fourth grader', how come I've won more fights than you've ever been in?"

"Beginner's luck," Thomas smirked. "You wouldn't stand a chance against us."

"Oh, really?" Monica grinned. "I'm willing to find out."

Thomas and Vanessa both laughed.

"Are you challenging us?" Vanessa wanted to know.

"No, I'm asking Thomas out on a date," Monica replied. "What do you think I'm doing, Stupid?"

"Oh, you'll pay for that one," Vanessa snarled. "No one calls me stupid and lives to tell about it."

"Whatever," Monica said, miming a yawn. "Come on, let's get this over with. I'm starting to think you two are all talk."

Dana watched as the bullies walked away from her only to surround her brother and sister. From her position on the ground, she couldn't see what was going on, but she heard everything being said.

"You're going down," Thomas announced.

"Uh-huh," Monica said. "In your dreams."

"You have such a high opinion of yourself," Vanessa commented. "Allow me to take it down a few notches."

Monica didn't even bother with a retort. She just kicked Vanessa in the solar plexus, knocking the fifth grader flat on her rear end...

((((())))))

Tina Hunter sat in her car and glanced at the clock in the dashboard for the hundredth time in less than five minutes. _Where is he?_ she thought. _We're going to be late._

Of course, that was a ridiculous thought. Jack was never late for anything. _She_ was the one with the tendency to let the time just slip her mind.

She couldn't believe it had happened again. What was she going to do with that daughter of hers? Monica's vigilante behavior was getting out of hand. She wouldn't be surprised if Principal Sears finally broke down and expelled her, despite her perfect grades.

And this time, John was involved too. Tina knew how much he worshipped his twin. He wanted to be exactly like her, apparently now even to the point of getting into fights at school. The boy couldn't fight at all. Unfortunately, he had yet to realize this himself.

A rapping at the window startled her out of her thoughts. Tina looked up to see Jack's handsome face peering in at her. She smiled slightly and opened the car door.

"I left Nate in charge while I was gone," Jack told her as he helped her get out. "All that's left on this case is the paper work. I think he can handle that by himself for a while. So, what did she do this time?"

Tina sighed. "Another fight. A bad one from the sound of it."

"Any idea what it was about?"

She shook her head. "Pat wouldn't say. But John was in it too."

"Oh, no," Jack muttered. "Let's hope he didn't get hurt again. Remember the last time this happened.

"How could I forget?" Tina commented. John had jumped into a fight with Monica two summers ago and had gotten a broken arm for his trouble.

"Come on," Jack said, taking her hand. "Mr. Sears will fill us in on all the details."

"He always does," Tina agreed.

((((())))))

Monica looked up when she heard the office door open. Her parents came in together. As usual, they were holding hands. _Those two are way too mushy,_ she thought.

"I'm in so much trouble," John murmured from his seat beside her.

Monica turned to look at him. "You sound surprised."

"I've never been suspended before," he told her. "They're going to kill me!"

Monica rolled her eyes. Man, he was such a wuss! "Hey, I've been suspended a zillion times and they haven't killed me yet."

"Yeah," he agreed, "but that's because you're not the good one. They expect you to keep getting in trouble."

"And just what is _that_ supposed to mean?" she questioned him.

John shrunk into his seat. "Nothing."

She snorted. He was just so easy to intimidate! "Good."

He did have a point, though. Mom and Dad were used to her getting into fights. Although they didn't approve of her behavior, they knew what she was trying to do. They also knew that there was no way she was ever going to stop. John, on the other hand, was a genuine boy scout. He _never_ misbehaved in school. Today was literally his first offense. She probably would be surprised if they weren't mad at him. They knew they could "scare" him back into behaving himself.

"I want to see Mom," Dana sniffled from her seat on Monica's other side. The squirt hadn't stopped crying since the fight ended. She had refused to go back to class, instead clinging onto Monica.

Monica knew how deeply Dana had been affected by the fight. The squirt was very sensitive. Her weird abilities enabled her to pick up on other people's emotions . Thomas and Vanessa's cruelty had scared her badly and she needed the comfort of her loved ones.

"You'll see her as soon as she and Dad are done with Mr. Sears," she promised.

Dana was a very special child. And it wasn't just because of those strange powers of hers either. It was because, as Mom had told her, she and Dad hadn't ever planned on having another baby. Dana was, as Mom put it, an "accident".

At ten, Monica was old enough to know about "the birds and the bees". Mom and Dad had had "the talk" with her and John about three years ago. (They would have it with Dana soon enough.) It was really gross, but it was just the way things were. Mom and Dad had "done it" and along came Dana. It was that simple. (Though trying to imagine her parents "doing it" totally grossed her out. Eew!)

Monica had only been two when Mom got pregnant with Dana, but she remembered Mom being very sick for several months. Dana had even been born early. Mom had also told her there was a time when the doctors didn't think the little baby would pull through.

Thinking about the possibility of losing Dana before even meeting her made Monica sad. She loved the little squirt like no other. (Only John and her parents came close.) The three children had formed an instant bond from the day she and John had been shown Dana through the nursery window at the hospital. Dad had held them up and let them look at her. Dana had been so tiny and helpless that she and John had vowed to always protect her. That was a promise they never intended to break.

And she had been keeping that very promise today when she had come upon Cane and his minions trying to hurt Dana.

Monica had been hanging upside down from the monkey bars when she saw Cane and company on the move. She had instantly known they were up to no good and followed them. (She hadn't noticed John following _her_ until it was too late. She loved her brother dearly, but he sucked big time at fighting. The big black eye he now sported proved it.) As the heroine of the school, it was her job to keep everyone safe from Cane and all of those jerks like him. No matter what the grade of the victim, she would defend them.

It had just been bad luck that today's victim happened to be Dana. The squirt had seemed resigned to getting pummeled by the time Monica had arrived. (That was when she noticed John had followed her.) Despite her majorly cool powers, the squirt did not know how to defend herself. Monica hoped that would change as she got older. But, for right now, she and John were the only protection she had.

Beating the crap out of both Thomas and Vanessa had been the most satisfying experience of her life. Those two dweebs deserved everything they got. She hoped they were in pain for months. She didn't think that other guy the teachers had to pull her off of was in such great shape either. Served him right for messing with her and her family.

Monica watched as Mom and Dad went over to speak with the secretary, Pat. They were pretty friendly with her because they had come in so many times over the years due to Monica's frequent fights.

"I just want to go home," Dana sighed.

Monica pulled the squirt into a hug. "We'll be home pretty soon. Then you can put this whole thing behind you, okay?"

"Okay," came Dana's muffled voice.

"Maybe Mom can sing later," John added.

Monica smiled at him, proud that he was able to push aside his own problems to help her with Dana. She knew there had to be a reason why she always put up with him! "Yeah," she said, "that'll make you feel better." Mom's singing always calmed Dana down.

The only other thing that worked was a Disney movie marathon. The squirt was a Disney maniac! She'd even named her cat "Belle" after her favorite heroine. _Beauty and the Beast_ was Dana's favorite movie in the entire universe.

"Okay," Dana repeated.

Monica smiled and just continued to hold her baby sister.

((((())))))

Tia concentrated on the spell, feeling the immense energy building around her.

"Excellent," came Mayati's voice from the back of the room. "When you feel that you've gathered a sufficient amount of power, you may let it go."

Tia allowed the energy to increase for a few moments more. This was a very advanced spell and very few people were ever able to master it. Finally, she flung the energy mass outward, only to be stopped from causing damage by the protective shield Mayati had commanded her to erect first.

Slightly tired from the effort but nowhere near as drained as she had been when she first started learning magic, Tia banished the shield and made her way over to where Mayati sat. She dropped to her knees in front of her mistress. "Was the spell to your satisfaction, Great One?"

"It was perfect," Mayati told her. "You have done well."

"Thank you, my mistress," Tia said. A compliment from Mayati was very rare. Tia was lucky to get one in a six month period, especially after her actions of two years ago.

"Now, rise to your feet," Mayati instructed. "I have something to tell you."

Tia quickly complied. She knew better than to disobey. If she ever wanted to get her final revenge, she could not risk angering Mayati.

Mayati leaned back in her seat and crossed one leg over the other. "Congratulations, Tia. You've just completed the final part of your training. You're a fully-trained sorceress."

It took a few moments for Mayati's words to sink in. "You mean...?"

Mayati smiled. "Are you ready to finish what you started back in Memphis?"

_It's about time!_ Tia silently crowed. _Finally, the slut and Ja-Kal will pay for what they did to me._ "Mistress, I have been ready since the day you took me back."

The demigoddess chuckled. "I have no doubt of that. Your eagerness for vengeance is what got you into trouble in the first place."

Tia looked as contrite as possible. "I will not make the same mistakes again," she promised. _Only because I need your help._ "You have taught me well," she said aloud.

"And you have learned well," Mayati told her. "Your enemies will not escape this time."

"When do we begin?" Tia wanted to know. _I already have the perfect way to make them suffer._

"Tomorrow," Mayati informed her. "The spell to bring us to them is long and difficult to perform and requires much preparation."

"You've already located them then?" Tia asked, a little irritated by this. She wanted to have been present when Mayati found them. After all, _she_ was the one seeking the revenge.

"I knew long before you came back seeking my help," Mayati waved her off.

_What?_ Tia felt like screaming. How dare she! She had known for some time that Mayati had monitored her activities in Memphis. She just hadn't known how much. Keeping her anger hidden, she asked, "Where are they?"

Mayati stood up from her chair. "The future. Several millennia ahead, in fact. The world they live in is nothing like this one."

Tia's anger was replaced by curiosity. "The future? My spell did that?" She was quite impressed. If she was capable of that power by accident, imagine what she could do on purpose...

Tia's initial disdain for magic had faded over time. During her first revenge attempt, she had come to realize that magic really was a gift from the gods. It had allowed her to do the most incredible things. And she found that she had enjoyed having that kind of power.

Especially the kind that allowed her to kill.

"Whatever the mistake you made was, it transported them there," Mayati told her. "However, I must warn you that there is no way to arrive at the exact same moment as they do. Time travel is something that only the true gods have mastered. Beings like us must rely on spells that try to duplicate their powers."

"As long as we find them, I don't care," Tia assured her. _And if they're old and decrepit, all the more fun it will be to slaughter them and their children._

Tia's plan was simple. If she arrived at a time when the children were born, she'd kill the children in front of their eyes. If she was able to find them before the whore gave birth, she'd use her powers to destroy the children while still in the womb. Then, of course, she'd kill both of them. Probably Ja-Kal first, just so she could see the look on the slut's face as he died. Then Nefer-Tina would die a slow and painful death. It would be a very satisfactory experience.

Tia had not bothered to plan much further ahead than that. Revenge was all that mattered to her at the present. Afterwards, who knew? A whole world of possibilities was open to someone with incredible powers at her disposal. She'd just have to choose the one she liked the best.

Mayati started to walk across the room. About halfway to the door, she stopped and turned around. "I hope you don't mind, but I've asked Chontra to assist with the spell casting."

_Of course I mind!_ She hated that arrogant and self-righteous bitch with a passion. She knew the feeling was mutual. Keeping her anger under control, she asked, "Why?"

Mayati gave a little smile. Tia knew that Mayati was aware of how they felt about each other. This was probably another one of her sadistic little touches. "The power required for this spell is greater than anything the two of us alone can generate. We need a third source of energy. And since Chontra is my most advanced student next to you, she was the logical choice.

"Besides, she's already agreed to help."

_I'll bet she has,_ Tia snorted. The only reason Chontra would ever want to help her was because she was hoping to see her fail miserably. She couldn't wait to disappoint her.

Mayati started walking again. "You may retire to your chamber for now and get some rest. I will summon you later to discuss our course of action."

"Thank you, Mistress," Tia told her, bowing out of habit even though she knew Mayati could not longer see her. As soon as she heard the door open and shut, she straightened back up. A wicked smile formed on her lips. There was no escape for her enemies this time.

They would finally get what they so richly deserved.

((((())))))

Tina held Dana in her arms as she carried her into the bedroom. Jack had gone in ahead of them and already turned down the blankets on the bed. Tina brought her over to the bed and gently laid her down.

"You're getting heavy, little one," Tina teased as she kissed her. "Soon I won't be able to hold you any more."

Dana just gave a small smile. She was definitely feeling better, but she was still very upset. She'd had a rough day.

Jack moved in and gave her a kiss as well. Both he and Tina covered Dana with her blankets.

Tina sat down on the edge of the bed. She stroked her daughter's long dark hair which was very much like her own. "You'll feel better in the morning, Sweetie," she told her. "I promise."

"I hope so," Dana quietly answered. She gave a small sigh. "What's the point of having these abilities if I can't even use them to help myself? Monica and John got into trouble because of _me_."

So _that_ was what had been bothering her all day. It was just like Dana to put others ahead of herself, especially her brother and sister.

Tina looked at Jack before turning her attention back to Dana. "Oh, Sweetie, it's not your fault. You're still a little girl. You can't be expected to have full control over them yet."

"Mom's right," Jack told her. He smiled at her. "And you know your sister. She would have done the same thing even if it hadn't been you."

"I know," Dana said, "but that's not the point. She and John are always protecting me. So are you two."

"That's because we all love you so very much," Tina told her. She kissed her again.

"But why can't I defend myself?" Dana wanted to know. "It isn't fair to all of you."

Before she could answer, there was a squeaking sound and Belle jumped onto the bed. The black cat made her way across the bed and crawled onto Dana's lap, where she curled up into a purring ball.

As Dana pet Belle, Tina kissed her daughter on the top of her head. Of her three children, Dana was the one she worried about the most. The little girl was a living contradiction. She had many strange and wonderful abilities, but she was incredibly delicate. Tina feared that the world would be too much for her when she got older. Right now, while she was a little girl, she could protect her.

"Honey, we don't mind at all," she told her.

"We enjoy keeping you safe," Jack added. "It's our job."

Dana giggled. Tina felt that it was one of the most wonderful sounds she could ever hope to hear. Her children's happiness was the most important thing in her life. "But I thought your job was being a cop."

"Being your dad is my most important job," he told her. He turned to smile at Tina. "I love my family more than anything else."

Tina smiled back. He was such a good father. His children loved him and knew that he loved them back. Just like she knew he loved her. "And we love you."

Tina pulled the small amulet she always wore out from under her blouse. Jack had given it to her on their wedding day. She had always viewed it as a symbol of his love for her.

Dana reached out and cupped it in her small hand. "I've always loved this," she said. "It's so beautiful."

"I gave that to her the day we got married," Jack told her.

"I know," Dana said. "What's it called again?"

"It's the Egyptian symbol for beauty," he explained. "Nefer."

"Nefer," Dana repeated. "It makes sense you'd give it to Mom. She's really beautiful."

"She is, isn't she?" Jack smiled at Tina, who just blushed.

Dana giggled again. She held the amulet for another moment or two before letting it go. Then she went back to petting Belle.

Dana's fascination with the necklace gave Tina an idea. She knew Jack loved her. She didn't need any piece of jewelry to tell her that. But Dana needed reassurance of their affection for her. The amulet that had served as a symbol of love between a man and his wife could become a symbol of love between two parents and their child.

"Here," she said, lifting it over her head, "I want you to have this."

Dana looked up. "Your necklace? Mom, no. You can't."

"Of course I can, Baby," she said. She looked at Jack. "Right, Dad?"

"I can't think of anyone more deserving," he agreed.

Dana's eyes were wide. "But why?"

Tina smiled at her. "To let you know that we'll love and protect you no matter what, even if you're able to take care of yourself." She put the amulet over Dana's head and draped it down the front of her nightgown. "It looks beautiful on you." She leaned down and kissed her again. Then she stood up. "Now, go to sleep. We'll see you in the morning."

"Good night," Dana said, sounding a bit in awe of what just happened.

Jack leaned in and kissed her one last time as well. "Sleep tight, Sweetheart." He stepped away from the bed and put his arm around Tina's waist. "We love you."

"I love you too," Dana told them.

Tina and Jack then left the room, turning off the light as they went.

((((())))))

"Are they gone?" John asked from behind her.

"Shh," Monica ordered him. She peeked around the corner and saw them just as they disappeared into their own bedroom. She turned back to John. "Okay, they're gone now."

"Man, I didn't know Dana was bothered so much about how we always protect her and stuff," John said.

"The squirt's tougher than we give her credit for," Monica told him. "But can you blame her for wanting to take care of herself?"

"I guess not," he shrugged. "But right now she can't."

"And that's what I'm worried about," Monica said. "Usually, she still has you watching over her while I'm suspended from school. This is the first time we're both gone. There's no one there to keep her safe."

"Do you think Thomas and Vanessa will try something?"

"I wouldn't put it past them," Monica told him. "But she'll be safe for a while. They're probably going to be out for a day or two."

"Yeah," John said, shaking his head in wonder. "I can't believe you actually sent them to the emergency room."

She shrugged. "It wasn't that hard, believe me. Those two and the other guy weren't that tough."

"If you say so," John said, looking at his shiner in the hall mirror.

"Anyway, I'll call Jeff tomorrow after he gets home from school. I'll see if I can get him and some of his boys to keep an eye on Dana for us." Jeff was a reformed bully, as were his friends. Monica had beaten them in a fight back when she was in first grade and he was in second. That had resulted in one of her numerous suspensions and had sparked a friendship between the two.

Monica suddenly yawned. "Well, I'm beat. I'm going to bed for real now. Night."

"Night," John said, as he gave his own yawn.

The twins quietly returned to their respective bedrooms and went to sleep.

((((())))))

Jack hugged Tina close as they lay in their bed. They were both exhausted from spending all of their energies trying to comfort Dana.

"That was such a generous thing you did before," he told her. "Giving Dana your amulet like that."

"She needs it more than I do," Tina said. "I'm not the one who needs to be reminded that I'm loved."

"I can't believe she thinks keeping her safe is a burden on us," Jack commented. "Doesn't she know that's part of what being a parent is all about? Protecting your children?"

Tina sighed. "I worry about her so much. She's so delicate and insecure. I'm afraid she's going to break at any moment."

"She's a lot stronger than you think," he told her.

She turned around in his arms to face him. "I hope you're right. I'm just so scared that the same thing that happened today will happen again while Monica's out," she said. She looked into his eyes. "She'll be hurt this time, Ja-Kal."

Ja-Kal. She only used his real name when she was under extreme emotional distress. "We can't be there to protect her from every single danger in the world," he told her. "Neither can Monica. That's just how life is. All we can do is love her and take care of her after it's over."

"It isn't fair," Tina sighed. "What kind of mother am I if I can't even keep my own child from being hurt?"

"A good one," Jack informed her. "A loving one. The kind of mother most children only dream of having." He caressed her cheek. "Our children know you love them and that's all that matters."

"I just don't want anything to ever happen to any of my babies," she said. "I love them so much."

He pulled her closer. He knew how fiercely devoted she was to their children. She was extremely overprotective and afraid she was going to lose them at any time. This stemmed from the loss of her first child all those years ago.

He still hadn't told her that he knew what had happened to her first baby. Tia had taken the infant and given him to his brother Arakh. Kimas had not been a happy boy. It was better that Tina didn't know the truth. It would probably kill her.

"They know that. And they love you too," he told her. "Just as I do." He kissed her. "That will never change, no matter what happens."

"I love you," she said.

Instead of answering, he kissed her again, more passionately this time. "Now go to sleep. Dana's going to be fine. It's the other two you need to worry about."

She smiled at him. "Three weeks at home with the twins. If I can survive that, I can survive anything."

Jack smiled back. There was a hint of her usual humor in her voice. Good. He hated when she was upset. He loved her so much and only wanted her to be happy. "Good night, my love."

"Good night."

He reached over and turned out the light. For a few moments, the two of them just remained in silence, the only sound in the room the ticking of the clock and their own breathing.

"Ja-Kal," Tina suddenly asked as she clung to him in the darkness, "do you think she'll ever find us?"

The question took him by surprise. "I don't know." The possibility of Tia finding them was one they hadn't discussed in almost a year. "Why do you ask?"

She exhaled heavily. "We were talking about keeping our children safe. If we can't even protect them from school bullies, how can we ever hope to stop a monster like her from harming them?

"And you know she would. She'll do anything in her power to harm us. And what better way than through our children?"

Jack nodded in the darkness, understanding her distress. Tia was obsessed with destroying them because of what she believed they did to her. He wouldn't put it past his ex-wife to go as far as killing innocent children just to make Tina and him suffer. After all, she had already almost killed the twins long before they were born when she had tried to kill both him and Tina that final day.

"How can we protect them from her?" she asked.

He hesitated before answering. "I...don't know if we can. But, I can promise you this:

"I'll die before I let her lay one hand on any of our children."

((((())))))

Tia read over the spell once more. It was in an ancient tongue that was no longer spoken except by the most advanced of magicians. The fact that Mayati was giving her the task of casting it was a great honor, one she could have never imagined.

She had spent the vast majority of the last two years playing the part of the repentant student. Mayati had made it very clear that if Tia were to ever disobey her again she would be immediately killed. Tia had taken this to mean that she was on probation and went to great lengths to conceal her true thoughts and feelings. Apparently, her ruse had worked better than she had hoped. Otherwise, Mayati would never have placed a spell of such magnitude in her hands.

The spell was very old and very powerful. It would take several hours to perform. Mayati had warned her that she would be drained by the time she reached her destination and that it would be wise for her to rest for at least a day. Although she had agreed, she had no intention of doing so. The sooner she located the slut and Ja-Kal, the sooner she could have her final revenge.

"Haven't you figured it out by now?" came the condescending voice of Chontra. "Mayati will be here any minute. You know how irritated she'll be if you aren't ready to begin."

Tia turned to face Chontra. The annoying bitch had been making comments like this all morning. If she didn't need her help so badly... Folding her arms, she commented "I sincerely doubt that considering that this entire trip is being made for _my_ benefit. And, besides, it was Mayati's idea that I be the one to actually cast the spell. I think she'll give me all the time I need."

Chontra snorted. "If she does, then it'll be a first. I've never seen Mayati wait for anyone as long as I've known her."

"That doesn't surprise me," Tia said, turning back to the page in the spellbook. "But, then again, I don't think she's ever helped anyone get revenge before either. As the saying goes, there's a first time for everything."

"How true," Chontra agreed. "Who'd ever thought Mayati would have taken a human as a student before you came along?"

Tia decided not to dignify that remark with an answer. Chontra had been harping over the fact that she was a "mere human" for as long as she had known her, which was pretty funny considering that Chontra's own first teacher had been one too. Tia guessed her low opinion of humans was the result of Rath dumping her to go and teach the prince. Although Chontra would never admit it to her, she wanted revenge against him as badly as Tia wanted revenge against Ja-Kal and the slut.

Before either woman could say anything else, the double doors to the room swung open and Mayati walked in.

"Tia," she said, "are you almost ready to begin?"

Tia turned around. "Actually, Mistress, I'm ready to begin now." She smirked at Chontra.

Chontra made a face.

"How about you, Chontra?" Mayati continued. "Are you prepared as well."

Chontra turned to face Mayati. "Of course, Mistress."

"Good," Mayati told her. "Are you still sure you want to stay with us in the future? You're perfectly capable of returning here alone."

The time travel spell they were using required much less energy when going back to its point of origin. Any one of them could easily return to this time on their own.

"I'm perfectly sure, my mistress," Chontra said. "One of the people Tia accidentally sent there along with her enemies is an old friend of mine. I've been meaning to pay him a visit for quite some time."

Tia held back a laugh. Chontra give up the opportunity to repay Rath for dumping her? Was Mayati mad? Obviously, she didn't know her "best student" as well as Chontra claimed she did.

"Very well," Mayati told her. "As long as it doesn't interfere with our plans, you are free to do as you please."

"I understand," Chontra said.

Tia doubted an idiot like Chontra could ever get in her way, but she refrained from voicing the cutting remark she wanted to say. A nasty barb was not worth angering Mayati, no matter how satisfying it would be to voice it.

"Good," Mayati said. "Come, let us form the circle." The three women went to the center of the room and, much to Tia's disgust, joined hands.

"Tia, you may start whenever you're ready."

Tia nodded and started gathering energy around her. She felt the energy level surge as both Mayati and Chontra added their powers to hers. In her mind, she began reciting the archaic spell.

((((())))))

The world came into focus again as they arrived at their destination, wherever and whenever it was.

Chontra examined her surroundings. The three of them were standing in what appeared to be a vast forest. Towering trees shot up in every direction she looked. Was this actually the future?

Well, even if it wasn't, as long as she could locate Rath, she would be perfectly happy...

The sound of an exhausted moan brought her attention back to her companions. Just as Mayati said she would, Tia had collapsed from her efforts.

_Serves her right,_ Chontra smirked.

There was just something about Tia that Chontra did not like and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was human. Personally, Chontra had nothing against humans. In fact, they'd always held quite the fascination for her. She'd spent much of her life living among them and masquerading as one. She'd even fallen in love with one... The only reason she acted like she disliked them was because she knew how much it annoyed Tia. In fact, she'd say or do almost anything if it could get a rise out of that bitch.

Chontra had disliked Tia from the moment they met. The woman had just rubbed her the wrong way. Tia acted as if she were the gods' gift to the world and that she deserved only the best life had to offer. She had no appreciation for anything. That's probably why her husband really left her.

Tia claimed that her ex-husband had been "seduced" by a "tramp". If that wasn't the most pathetic excuse for his walking out on her, she didn't know what was. Chontra was positive there was a lot more to the story and that Tia wasn't as innocent as she claimed.

Actually, Chontra couldn't blame the husband for leaving. How he had put up with Tia as long as he apparently had was beyond her.

Mayati bent down to help Tia stand up. "You did an excellent job," Mayati told her. "Now you must rest until tomorrow."

"No..." Tia weakly managed. "I...have...to..."

"You're not doing anything," Mayati informed her. "You're completely drained. You can't function like this." She motioned to Chontra with her head. "Come, take her while I find us a place to stay for the duration of our time here."

Chontra groaned inwardly. It was bad enough she had had to hold on to her hand for the power-sharing circle. Now she had to support her dead weight as well. "Yes, Mistress," she said.

She walked over and took Tia's half-limp form from Mayati. She resisted the urge to let her fall and say that it was an accident. Knowing Mayati, she'd see right through the lie. The mutual hatred she and Tia shared was well-known to their teacher.

"Wait here," Mayati instructed her. "I will transport you when I find a suitable location."

"As you command," Chontra acknowledged.

Mayati vanished in a swirl of flames.

Chontra was sure she'd be waiting a while. Luckily, she knew the perfect way to spend the time.

She had her own revenge to start planning.

Ever since Rath had walked out on her all those years ago, she had been waiting for the opportunity to repay him for his "kindness". He had left her and crushed her heart just because his pharaoh had ordered him to become the prince's exclusive tutor. Why hadn't it even occurred to him to take her with him? She would have taken him with her if their positions had been reversed. Had she meant so little to him despite his claims of caring for her? Because if he did care, he wouldn't have left her.

The part that infuriated her the most was his talk of duty. Yes, it was his duty to obey his pharaoh, but what about his duty to her? He had promised to teach her magic and had only partially done so. By leaving her in the middle of everything, he made her feel as if she had wasted his time, as if she wasn't worthy of his attention.

For that alone, she wanted him to suffer.

((((())))))

Tia sat in a secluded area of the building Mayati had selected to serve as their base of operations. It was huge and completely empty except for a countless number of metal shelves. It had obviously been used as a storage facility at one time, but appeared to have been abandoned long ago.

In her hands, Tia held the delicate gold bracelet she had taken from the slut's belongings back in Memphis. It had been the link through which she had bonded the fertility spell to Nefer-Tina all those years ago. Now she would use it to locate the whore herself in this strange new world.

She had wanted to start searching for her after they arrived yesterday, but she had been too weak because of that damn spell. Mayati hadn't been exaggerating when she had said it would completely drain her energy. She had spent all day yesterday and most of today just sleeping. She hadn't been able to completely wake up until about an hour ago.

Closing her eyes, she silently worded a life signature detection spell. Using the bracelet as the link, the spell would lock onto the slut's current location and then enable Tia to transport herself there immediately.

About twenty minutes later, she felt the spell lock onto its target.

_Finally,_ Tia smiled.

She quickly cast an invisibility spell to ensure that she would not be spotted by the tramp until she wanted to be seen, and then transported herself to Nefer-Tina's current location.

((((())))))

Tia rematerialized in the area the spell had found the tramp in. Wasting no time to examine her new surroundings, she began to scan for Nefer-Tina.

After a few moments, she found her. And she was not alone.

She had a child with her.

The little girl didn't seem to be more than six or seven. She was a tiny thing, as dark-haired as both her parents but as fair as her mother. She clutched tightly to her mother's hand, acting weaker than the whore had ever been. _Like mother, like daughter,_ Tia smirked.

Tia then turned her attention to the slut. Nefer-Tina had changed a great deal in the years since Tia had last seen her. She was still the beauty she had always been, but she was older now. Her hair, while still long, had been shortened a great deal, now only falling to the middle of her back. But, the most noticeable change of all was her much softened figure.

_Probably the result of not having to live as a man anymore,_ Tia decided.

In Egypt, although incredibly shapely, Nefer-Tina had been a muscular woman. Her role both as a man and as a guardian of the prince required it. In this new world, she had been able to live out the last several years as a woman. She had gained some weight, which had rounded out her figure and given her more curves than before. Her only "job" had been as wife and mother. She hadn't had any reason to keep in shape.

_Won't she be sorry about that now,_ Tia smirked.

She watched as the tramp and her daughter walked over to what had to be a vehicle of some sort. It was large and metal and had a relatively boxy shape. Each one of them went to a different side and opened a small door that allowed them to enter it. They pulled the doors shut behind them.

Before Tia could come closer to see what they were doing, there was a loud noise and lights flashed on the rear of the vehicle. Then it began to move.

Tia quickly cast a tracking spell and followed after them.

((((())))))

Chontra came to a stop in front of the door and took a moment to calm herself. On the other side was the man she had been waiting to find again for the past eight years. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.

It had taken her all of yesterday and most of today to find him. Unlike Tia, she did not have the luxury of having an item that had belonged to her quarry. Using magic to locate him had been out of the question. So, she had resorted to the only method available to her: physically looking for him.

There was only one thing she knew for certain. Rath was a teacher by nature. It was what he loved to do and what he did best. It did not matter what the subject was. (Tia had told her that during her encounter with him she had effectively blocked his ability to ever use magic again. He would definitely be teaching another subject.) He could easily pick up anything and start teaching it in a matter of days. This was his gift and one of the many reasons she had fallen in love with him.

While she had always been fascinated with humans, nothing came close to her love of magic. Although she had been born beyond the Western Gate, her only natural abilities had been shapeshifting, a gift that had allowed her to live among humans, and extremely limited telepathy. That was the closest her people came to using magic. She had not discovered true magic until she ventured out into the human world to study the creatures that had captured her imagination.

She had been passing through a small village when she witnessed an incredible feat of magic performed by a sorcerer. She had decided then and there that she had to learn how to do that. The idea of power excited her in a way nothing ever had before. It became her dream to become the most powerful sorceress in the entire world. And, it was this dream that eventually brought her to Rath.

The very next day after she had observed the sorcerer in action, she had begun a quest to find a teacher. But everywhere she went she was turned down for the same two reasons: she was neither a priestess nor a scribe. According to all the magical instructors she encountered, only a person of either order was allowed to study magic. No one else was, in their words, "fit" to learn the magical arts. Although she became frustrated, Chontra never gave up trying. And her persistence finally paid off-the day she met Rath.

Rath was different from the other sorcerers. He believed anyone could learn to use magic. (Provided, of course, he was the teacher.) So, he had no problem accepting her as his student. He had even given her her first lesson that very day.

Learning magic was even better than she could have ever hoped, but learning it from Rath was something else altogether. There was just something about him. She found herself extremely attracted to him. And, eventually, the attraction blossomed into love. However, she was never sure if he felt the same.

Rath was the most self-centered and arrogant person she had ever met on either side of the Western Gate. Everything had to be about him. For example, if she cast a spell correctly, it was always because of his instruction. An unselfish remark from him was very rare.

It was strange. In anyone else, this kind of behavior would have turned her off. But, in Rath, she found it endearing. It made her love him even more. Until the day he left her.

When he had received the summons from the pharaoh, Rath had immediately began making preparations to leave. All he could talk about was how thrilled he was that Pharaoh Amenhotep had recognized his talents and what an honor it was to become the prince's private tutor and one of his guardians. It did not matter that it was his duty to go. He would have gone even if it wasn't. This job was just one giant stroke to his ego.

He was so excited about this opportunity that he seemed to forget everything he was leaving behind. Or, Chontra decided, it was that he just didn't care. His new life was calling and the old one was tossed aside like a ragged blanket. Apparently, in his mind, the two could not coexist. And she was part of the old one.

The most hateful thing he had done was to finally admit that he had feelings for her, but that they weren't enough to keep them together. It was the cruelest words he had ever spoken. Chontra had never believed she could have felt such a burning hatred for anyone, especially someone she deeply cared about, but after hearing him say those words, she wanted nothing more than to make him suffer.

He was going to pay.

After a day of finding out all she could about the educational system of this future world, and then searching all the schools she could find, she had finally found him. He was a history teacher at a school that taught children who, in her own time, would have been considered adults and already learning their trades.

Chontra took a deep breath and teleported herself inside the classroom.

Rath was standing at the front of the room, lecturing about some historic event. He seemed to be as animated about his work as ever. He really did love teaching.

She took a moment to study him. He looked much older than he had been when she last saw him. His face had developed fine lines and there were shots of gray throughout his black hair. It was obvious the time travel spell had brought them many years past the date of his arrival in this time. Despite the aging, she still found him to be as handsome as ever.

Suddenly there was a loud ringing sound and all the students leapt out of their seats. Rath tried shouting something at them over the noise, but they appeared to ignore him in their rush to leave. _You're losing your touch, my love,_ she mused. _So much for your skills as a teacher._

As the last of the students left the classroom, Rath just sighed and went to sit at his desk. He picked up what Chontra assumed to be a writing implement and began jotting something down, muttering to himself all the while.

Chontra decided this was the perfect time to get reacquainted with the man who had broken her heart. Just as she was about to make herself visible and let him know that she was here, the door opened and a woman walked into the room.

"The bell's just rung and you're still hard at work," the woman commented as she approached his desk. "How typical."

Chontra smirked. This woman obviously did not know who she was dealing with. Rath _hated_ to be disturbed during his work, which was precisely why she was about to do it herself.

However, instead of berating the woman and brushing her off, he looked up and smiled.

Chontra was shocked. _What?_

"You know me," he told the visitor. "My work is my life."

"I know," the woman agreed. "But even you need to put your life on hold once in a while."

Rath stood up and walked over to the woman. And, much to Chontra's surprise, he put his arms around her waist. "Only for you, my dear," he said.

"Oh, Ralph," the woman smiled.

_His name in this world,_ Chontra noted to herself.

And then he kissed her.

Chontra could not believe what she was seeing. Not only had Rath allowed this woman to interrupt him while he was hard at work, but he was also romantically involved with her. It was unfair. _She_ was the one he was supposed to be in love with. Not this stranger. What did this woman have that she did not? Why hadn't he put his job first like he had with her?

She felt the anger she had long harbored at him flare up again. He was doing all the things for this woman that she had wanted him to do with her. He had openly admitted his feelings to her. And he let her come ahead of his work. It made her want to scream!

This was the ultimate betrayal, not what he had done to her in Egypt. _This_ was far worse.

Vowing to hurt him much more than she had originally planned, Chontra teleported herself someplace where she could vent her anger.

((((())))))

Tia had followed the slut and her child to their destination, which appeared to be a house. It was much larger than any home she had ever seen, but it appeared to be normal for this future time. It was located in an area where it was surrounded by similar buildings on all sides.

Nefer-Tina and the little girl got out of the vehicle and went straight to the front entrance. A few seconds later they disappeared inside. Tia waited a few minutes and then followed.

She rematerialized in a brightly lit hallway. She looked around. The whore and the little girl were nowhere to be seen. However, strange loud noises were coming from above her. She spotted a staircase leading up to the second floor and decided to investigate. Maybe she would find the second child up there.

The noises became louder as she approached the second floor. Mixed in with the unrecognizable sounds was the distinctive laughter of children. _The girl must have come up here to join her twin,_ Tia figured. _But what in the name of all the gods are they doing? It sounds like a spell gone wrong in there._

At the top of the stairs, she found a hallway lined with several doors. The one closest to her position was wide open and the cacophony seemed to be coming from there. She went over and peered in. What she found was something she never expected.

There were two children all right. They were sitting in front of some glowing box and held tiny devices in their hands. Their attention was glued to whatever it was they saw on the box. But neither of them was the same child she had seen with the slut. These two were much older. And they looked almost completely identical.

_These_ two were the twins. Which could only mean one thing: Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina had had a third child.

"Well, what do you know?" she whispered aloud in wonder, knowing that neither child could hear her above the noise.

"Know what?" asked a new voice.

Tia whirled around to see the third child looking right at her.

((((())))))

"Mom!"

"Hold on a minute, Max," Tina said as she glanced up to see Monica tearing into the kitchen. She put down the phone when she saw Monica's face. A cold feeling developed in the pit of her stomach. "What is it, Honey?"

"It's Dana," Monica panted. "You have to come quick.

"I think she's in trouble."

Tina's eyes went wide. Dana in trouble? In the house? She picked the phone back up. "Max, I'm going to have to call you back."

"Is everything all right?" Maxine asked.

"I...don't know. I'll see you when we come over tonight."

"Okay, Hon. I'll see you then," Max told her. "Bye."

"Bye," Tina said and hung up the phone. She started rushing towards the stairs. "What's going on?"

"She's talking to some ghost or something and whatever it's saying is really upsetting her," Monica explained as she raced to keep up.

Tina practically flew to the second floor. She saw John standing in Monica's doorway, looking as upset as his twin. Dana was sitting on the floor in front of the closet door. She looked terrified and tears were streaming down her face.

"Mom!" Dana cried.

Tina wanted to run to her, but knew it would be unwise. Even after ten years, she still remembered all her guardian training.

Dana turned her attention to whoever was frightening her so badly. "No! You stay away from my mom!" Then she listened for a few seconds. "I won't! You can't make me!"

"Dana, Baby, what's the ghost telling you?" Tina asked. The pit in her stomach was growing bigger by the second. There was only one person who'd want to harm her...

"It's not a ghost," Dana told her. Her attention drifted back to only what she could see. "Don't say things like that about my mom!" She turned back to Tina. "It's a mean lady who's made herself invisible or something. She's not dead."

_Mean lady?_ Tina thought. Then... _Oh, god! Oh, my god!_ It _was_ her!

"I told you, I won't tell her," Dana said as defiantly as she could manage. Then her eyes grew wide and she started whimpering.

"Mom, do something," John urged. "She's gonna hurt her!"

Tina felt Monica latch onto her arm. "Dana!" she cried.

Tina had to do something. She couldn't let the monster harm any one of her children. Pushing aside her own fear, she called out "Tia!"

Dana gasped as the "mean lady" seemed to release her from whatever she had been doing. Monica let go of her arm and gasped as well.

"You leave my daughter alone," Tina ordered. "Now."

Dana listened as Tia said something to her. Then she jumped to her feet and rushed over to her mother. Tina bent down and took the shaking child into her arms.

"Oh, my poor baby," she cried. "You're safe now. You're safe."

"I was so scared," Dana sniffed. "She scares me, Mommy."

Tina just squeezed her tightly in her arms. Dana hadn't called her "Mommy" in over a year because she was trying to be a "big girl".

"You know who it is," Monica said. "How?"

Tina didn't answer. She was afraid she'd start crying from terror herself if she said anything. Better to keep up the brave front and protect her children as long as she could. Instead, she pushed Dana into Monica's arms. "Get her downstairs."

"But, Mom," Monica protested.

"No buts," Tina told her as she stood up. She turned to John. "Get downstairs now. I want you to get ready to go out the door. If I'm not there in five minutes, go without me. Go to Amanda."

"We can't leave you here alone," John pointed out.

"Just do as I say, Baby," Tina waved him off. "Go."

Monica and John just nodded and started pulling Dana down the steps.

"Mommy," Dana cried out.

"You can show yourself now," Tina announced to the seemingly empty hall as soon as the kids were out of sight.

"You certainly love your children, don't you?" Tia commented as she made herself visible. "I don't think I've ever seen you this brazen before. I must say I like it. It'll make killing you all the more fun."

It took all of Tina's self-control not to fall apart at the sight of her. She had to be brave and face her. She _had_ to.

The children had to be protected at all costs.

"You have three very adorable children," Tia continued. "Especially that little one. What was her name? Dana? She's very special. She could see right through my invisibility spell. Quite impressive, don't you think? No one has ever been able to do that before."

"You stay away from my children," Tina finally managed to say, keeping as much of the shaking out of her voice as possible. "I don't care what you do to me. You just leave them alone."

Tia laughed. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? You and your beloved husband die while your pathetic spawn survive? I don't think so."

"They haven't done anything to you," Tina argued. "They're innocent children."

"Innocent?" Tia laughed again. "They're the product of a relationship that was never meant to be. I'd say that makes them more than guilty. They should have never been born.

"Though the first two are my own fault," she added. "If I hadn't messed up that day..." She trailed off. There was no need to finish the sentence.

"Well, I don't see any need to stay any longer," Tia suddenly announced. "I know where you are now. I can find you whenever I want.

"There's no place left to hide."

Tia vanished into thin air, going back to wherever she had come from.

There was no time for her to release the emotions that she had kept hidden from Tia during their encounter. She had to get the children to safety first. Tia could not be allowed to get her hands on them. If Monica and John hadn't noticed what was going on with Dana and come to get her...

Praying that she could hold herself together just a little bit longer, she went downstairs.

"Mom!" Monica cried as she appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "You're okay!"

John and Dana came up behind their sister. Dana had Belle in her arms.

Tina opened her arms and the three children rushed into them for a group hug. "I love you all so much," she told them.

"We love you too," Monica said.

Tina released them. "Come on. We have to get out of here. I don't know how long it'll be before she comes back."

"Who is she, Mom?" John asked. "Why does she want to hurt you?"

Tina was at a loss of what to do. On one hand, she didn't want them to know the truth about her past. On the other, they deserved to know everything. But they were so young and still so innocent about the ways of the world. What right did she have to shatter their childish illusions? She wanted to protect them from everything as long as she could.

"I'll tell you later," she told them, not knowing at the moment whether or not she was lying or telling the truth. "I want Dad to be there too."

Jack. Oh, how she dreaded having to tell him that their worst nightmare had finally come true.

"Does he know her too?" Dana asked.

"Yes."

"God, Mom," Monica said exasperatedly. "Why can't you just tell us?"

"Please," Tina begged. "I'll tell you later. I swear. Right now, I just want to get as far away from here as possible."

"Where are we going?" John asked.

"To Logan's house," she told him. Logan was the son of Armand and Maxine Armstrong. He was a year younger than the twins and was one of their best friends. Dana loved her "cousin" Logan too. "We were going to have dinner there tonight anyway."

Tina ran and grabbed her purse from where she had left it in the kitchen. She dug in and immediately found her car keys and thrust them into her pocket. Next she grabbed the cell phone and turned it on. As she herded the children out the door, she hit the automatic dialer.

"Police department," the voice at the other end answered.

"Hi, Marty. It's Tina. Can you connect me with Jack?

"It's an emergency."

((((())))))

Tia rematerialized in the abandoned building. She could barely contain her glee at her discovery and subsequent "confrontation", if one could even call it that, with the slut. Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina were going to suffer so much more watching three children die rather than two.

And that third child! What were those strange abilities of hers? How had she been able to see her while she was cloaked in an invisibility spell? It didn't make any sense. The girl had no magical powers whatsoever.

It was such a shame she had to die.

She decided to keep this information from Mayati. The demigoddess would definitely be as, if not more, intrigued by the girl as she was and would want to study her. Tia could not allow that to happen. It would ruin everything.

"I take it you had a successful day?" Mayati asked as she appeared in the room and walked up to Tia.

Tia smiled at her. There was no need to keep her elation hidden. "You have no idea. Things are going to be so much better than I could have ever hoped. And I have your spell to thank for it."

"Tell me all about what you found," Mayati commanded her.

Tia nodded, knowing she had to continue being the obedient servant until her revenge was complete. "There are three children now, Mistress. Based on the ages of the first two, Ja-Kal and the tramp have been here for quite some time. Obviously they felt safe enough to extend their family."

"A mistake on their part," Mayati said. "What are the children like?"

_Damn,_ Tia thought. She couldn't keep any information about the children hidden from Mayati now. She had no choice but to answer the question. "I didn't get to spend much time observing the twins. I had an unexpected encounter with the third, a little girl."

"An encounter?" Mayati repeated. "You mean you allowed them to see you?"

"Of course not, Mistress," Tia told her. "The girl was able to see me through my invisibility spell. She came up to me."

"How was she able to do this?" Mayati wanted to know. "Neither parent has any magical training. Is it possible one of them has some non-human blood in him?"

"I doubt it," Tia said. "Ja-Kal comes from a long line of hunters. The whore's parents were farmers. Neither background suggests any bloodmingling anywhere along the family lines.

"The girl did not use any magic either. She just saw me and acted surprised that I was alive."

Mayati seemed to think about this. "I have heard of humans having strange non-magical abilities before, but never anything like this. Do you know what else she can do?"

"Only that she can see and speak with the dead," Tia informed her. "Like I said, she only approached me because she thought it strange that I wasn't dead. She must encounter ghosts and spirits all the time."

"Hmm," Mayati said, sounding deep in thought, "I wonder what other things this girl is capable of. Imagine what we could learn from her."

"Yes," Tia pretended to agree. "Too bad she has to die."

"Does she really?" Mayati inquired. "After all, you do have the other two children. Surely their deaths would be enough to satisfy even your bloodlust."

"No, it has to be all three," Tia insisted. "My entire plan depends on it. You know that. Unless the slut and Ja-Kal see all of their children die, they'll cling to the hope that one is safe. I can't have that happen."

"Plans change," Mayati told her. "Yours can too. I want that girl. You are not to harm her. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my mistress," Tia said, hiding the anger that was beginning to flare up. How dare Mayati ruin her revenge like this!

"Besides, there are plenty of ways of making them believe you've killed the child," Mayati said. "There's no reason to worry that they won't be completely destroyed. Remember, I'm here to help you."

_Ha,_ Tia laughed internally. _Here to help me, indeed. You're just helping yourself._

She would not settle for anything less than the genuine destruction of Nefer-Tina and Ja-Kal. That meant all three children had to die, painfully and horribly, in front of their eyes. And that was what was going to happen.

Even if it meant crossing Mayati.

((((())))))

Chontra, having finally calmed down after seeing Rath and his new lover, returned to the base of operations. She had a great deal of work to do in order to get the perfect revenge against Rath. She was determined to make him suffer in every way possible.

She went over to sit at her makeshift worktable. It was covered with the many books and other publications she had acquired in her travels the day before. She wanted to learn as much about this time as she possibly could. If she was going to live here for an undetermined period of time, she might as well know about her new environment. Besides, Rath would never expect an enemy from his original time period to know as much about this one as he did. He'd never see her coming until it was too late.

Chontra picked up the book she had begun reading last night before going to bed when she heard footsteps approaching from behind her. She turned around to see Mayati walking towards her.

"I have a request I wish to make of you," Mayati told her.

"What is it, Mistress?" Chontra asked, getting to her feet. She knew Mayati wouldn't pull her away from her own revenge plans unless it was important.

"I want you to keep an eye on Tia for me," Mayati said. "We had a...disagreement over her revenge plan. I asked her not to harm one of her intended targets, but I have a very strong feeling that she has no intention of sparing her."

"You want me to make sure she doesn't kill this person?"

"Yes," Mayati nodded. "I want you to protect her at all costs."

"I understand," Chontra said. "Who is she?"

"The youngest child of Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina. A girl by the name of Dana."

_Child!_ Chontra was stunned. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Tia wants to kill a child?"

"Three actually," Mayati told her. "There are two older ones, twins. A boy and a girl. Tia may kill them, but she cannot touch the youngest."

"I didn't realize that Tia was planning to kill children," Chontra said. "I thought she was just after Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina."

"She is," Mayati explained. "Her plan is to get to them through their children. I find it rather ingenious myself."

"Well, I don't," Chontra told her. "I don't believe in harming innocent children to get at your enemies. If I had known this was part of Tia's plan, I would never had agreed to help you cast the spell."

"Then it's a good thing you didn't," Mayati responded. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here to have your own revenge."

Chontra didn't know how to answer that. While she hated the idea of enabling someone like Tia to kill innocent children, she had been waiting for an opportunity to make Rath pay for what he did to her.

Mayati smiled. "Not so eager to condemn her now, are you? So, are you going to do as I ask?"

"Of course, my mistress," Chontra said. "I would never disobey you."

"Good," Mayati praised her. "I knew I could count on you. Now, go. Make sure she goes nowhere without you following her. Protect the child."

"It is as you command, Mistress," Chontra bowed.

Mayati simply nodded and vanished in a burst of flame.

Chontra spat out a curse. Following Tia around was the _last_ thing she ever wanted to do. Tia was possibly the only person in the universe Chontra hated more than Rath...

So, in a way, by protecting the little girl, she would be doing her part to make sure Tia failed on her mission.

All the more reason to get started immediately.

((((())))))

"Okay, you guys, have fun and don't get into any trouble," Presley told the four children as he left them in Logan's room. "That means you too, Monica."

Monica made a face at him. Presley could be such a jerk sometimes. Just because he was sixteen and had his own car didn't make him superior.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be good," she told him.

Presley smirked and left, pulling the door shut behind him.

Monica rushed over to the door and listened for the sound of someone going down the steps. There was no way she was going to be trapped in this room while the grown-ups talked about what happened this afternoon at her house. (They _had_ to talk about it. Mom was way too freaked out by it not to.) She wanted to know who that crazy lady named Tia was.

She heard him go down and then pushed open the door. "You guys stay here. I'm going to see what I can find out about what happened today."

"Hey, why can't we come and listen too?" John demanded, indicating himself and Dana. "We have as much right to know about the scary lady as you do."

"Yeah," Dana added, giving Belle a hug before placing the cat on Logan's bed. "She tried to hurt me."

"What are you guys talking about? What scary lady?" Logan wanted to know.

"Some invisible lady showed up in our house today and threatened Dana," Monica explained. Logan knew all about Dana's abilities, so it was okay to tell him about what happened. "Our parents know who she is but won't tell us."

"Mom was really scared," Dana told him.

"I'm betting they're going to tell your parents and the others about her," Monica finished. "If they won't tell us themselves, we'll just have to find out on our own." She held up a hand. "You guys can come too as long as you're extremely quiet. Not a single word." She tip-toed out the door and went over to the top of the stairs, where she silently sat down.

Dana, John, and Logan followed suit.

Aunt Max's strong voice floated up to their ears. "I hate to be a party pooper, but Jack, you and Tina don't seem to be having a very good time tonight. Both of you have hardly said a word all evening. Now, I didn't want to say anything in front of the children, but is there something going on that we need to know about? And does it have anything to do with what happened when you hung up on me, Tina?"

_Good old Aunt Max,_ Monica thought. Her let's-get-down-to-business attitude really came in handy sometimes. The truth about the scary lady would be revealed in no time.

Monica heard Mom sigh.

"Oh, god," Mom said. "How do you explain something like this?"

"We were hoping to wait until later to say anything," Dad said. "We didn't want to ruin the evening for anyone."

"Well, it's ruined for both of you, so spill," Aunt Max demanded.

"She's found us," Dad announced.

There was a collective gasp.

"Oh, no!" Uncle Armand exclaimed.

"Dear god," Uncle Ralph said. "We always feared she would, but I never thought it would be so soon."

Monica and John looked at each other. Uncle Ralph and Uncle Armand both _knew_ about the crazy lady?

"Who? Who's found you?" Miss Eve wanted to know.

"A woman by the name of Tia," Dad told her matter-of-factly. "My ex-wife."

Monica's eyes went wide. Ex-wife? Dad had been married before? And to that scary lady? She looked at John and Dana, who were just as shocked as she was by this information.

"No wonder she hates Mom so much," Dana murmured.

"Jack, I had no idea you had been married before," Aunt Max said, sounding surprised.

"It's not something I like to talk about," Dad informed her. "We divorced almost fifteen years ago."

"It sounds like the three of you know and don't particularly like her," Miss Eve commented.

"She's a very bad lady," Uncle Armand asserted.

"She definitely sounds like one, Baby," Aunt Max decided. "What about the kids? Do they know about her?"

"They didn't until today," Mom said. "She broke into the house and threatened Dana."

"Oh, god," Aunt Max said. "Why on Earth would she want to threaten such a sweet thing like Dana? More importantly, what was she doing breaking into your house?"

There was silence for a moment. Monica looked at John again. "What's going on?"

"Don't know," he answered.

"Shh!" Logan quieted them.

"Tina, what is it?" Dad's voice was saying. For a moment, the room was quiet again. "Tina? What haven't you told me?"

"Oh, Jack," Mom finally burst out. "It's the children. She's come for the children!" Then, Mom started to cry.

"Oh, man," John murmured. "What the heck would she want us for?"

"She's a psycho," Monica told him. "That's all the reason she needs!"

"Jeez, I can't believe Dad was married to her," John said. "How could he be with someone so...so... Man, I can't even find a word for what I want to say."

"Icky," Dana supplied.

"Good one, Squirt," Monica grinned. "Yep, I'd say icky pretty much describes her."

"She must have pretended to be nice," Logan decided. "Your dad wouldn't have loved her otherwise."

"You're probably right," Monica agreed. "But, she's definitely not pretending anymore. She scared the crap out of Dana and Mom back at the house."

"Hey, they're talking again," John announced.

"What haven't you told us, Jack?" Aunt Max demanded. "Why would your ex-wife be after your children?"

Dad sighed. "To hurt us. She'll do anything to ruin our lives. Tia thinks I destroyed hers when we got divorced and she wants to repay us in kind.

"She won't stop until Tina and I are dead."

"Holy crap!" Monica nearly shouted. "She wants them _dead_?"

Dana clutched onto her arm. "But why?"

"Shh!" John told them.

"My god," Aunt Max breathed. "That's insane! And, she's told you this?"

"Many times," Dad answered. "The first time was after the initial divorce proceedings."

"Did you have any idea that she was this unstable while you were married?" Aunt Max asked. "Is that why you got divorced?"

Monica decided she had heard enough. She didn't need to hear the gory details of why Dad broke up with the psycho lady. The fact that she was out to hurt her parents was all she needed to know.

And the other fact that she was after Dana, John, and her, too gave her the greatest idea.

"Come on, guys," she announced in a hushed voice. "Back to Logan's room.

"I've got an idea."

((((())))))

"Is that why you got divorced?" Max wanted to know.

Jack pulled Tina closer to him. "No, I didn't learn about her true nature until it was almost too late. I divorced her for two reasons. The first is that she never loved me and only wanted to marry me because of what I could do for her."

"And the second?"

Jack looked down at his wife. She was still crying, but not as hard as before. He kissed the top of her head before returning his gaze to the others. "The second is what she did to Tina over a course of four years.

"She almost succeeded in destroying her life."

"Why?" Eve asked. "What did Tina ever do to her?"

"I fell in love with Jack," Tina spoke up.

"I didn't know that she was in love with me until the day Tia told me," Jack explained. "In fact, we didn't meet until two years after she had developed feelings for me and it was under the most unusual of circumstances. And, it was under those circumstances that we became friends.

"I didn't fall in love with her for another two years."

"Yet he kept his feelings hidden from me like I kept my feelings hidden from him," Tina continued for him. "We each had our reasons for not revealing the truth to each other. His, obviously, was that he was married and truly did love his wife. Mine was because... Because..."

"Because Tia would have had her put to death," Jack finished. He hugged Tina as close as he could. He could hear her struggling to keep in control of her emotions. He knew how hard this was for her. He wished she'd just let it all out. He needed her to be strong in front of the children as she had been ever since this afternoon's encounter.

"All right, you've just lost me," Max announced. "How could Tia have had her put to death? Unless Tina's guilty of some heinous crime she hasn't told me about, I can't see that happening. I mean, you're a cop. Why would you marry a known criminal?"

Jack hesitated before answering. For ten years, the truth of their past had been kept hidden. Amanda and Presley had helped to fabricate a plausible background for each of them when they first arrived. If he were to explain what had happened to Tina and the threat Tia had held over her, their true origin would be revealed.

He knew both Max and Eve could be trusted. Max had been a good friend all this time and she loved Armand dearly. The kids just adored her. And although Eve had only been part of their "family" for a year, it was obvious that she and Ralph were very serious. (He had actually planned on asking Ralph if he was thinking of proposing any time soon.) However, he didn't know if they would believe him.

He knew the story would sound crazy to them. The modern world was so different from their native time. Magic was the stuff of fantasies. Technology was what made the world go round. There was no person in power who paralleled a pharaoh. And women were nearly equal to men in all things. Would they even believe it?

_They have to be told,_ he decided. _They deserve to hear the truth._ He took a deep breath before speaking.

"There's something we haven't told you yet..."

((((())))))

"We're going to be in so much trouble," John announced as Monica put the finishing touches on the note.

"Of course we are," Monica agreed. "But after they calm down and stop screaming they'll realize that we saved their butts."

"Yeah," Dana put in. "You heard what Mom and Dad said. The crazy lady wants to get us so she can use us to hurt them."

"So, as long as she can't find us, she can't do anything to them," Monica concluded, proud of her brilliant plan.

The door opened and Logan came back into the room with an armful of sheets. "This is the last of them." He dropped them into the huge pile in the middle of the room. "I think these should be enough to get us down to the ground."

"They better be," Monica said as she signed her name to the note and slid the paper over to John. "It's our only way to get out of here without going downstairs."

"I could try and put you guys down with my mind," Dana suggested.

"No way, Squirt," Monica told her. "I'm not going to let you hurt yourself. You don't have the strength or the control to try that yet." She got up from the table and went over to the pile of sheets. She plopped down to the ground She picked up two and started tying them together.

"Your turn, Dana," John said as he got up from the table. He went over to where Monica was and joined her.

Logan went over to his bureau and opened the top drawer. He fished around in it for a bit and then pulled out his wallet. "I've got enough money in here to last us a few days."

"That is so unfair that you have such a big allowance," John told him. "Ours is nothing and we have to earn it by helping around the house."

"What can I say? I have a _really_ nice dad!" Logan beamed. He stuffed the wallet in his pocked and went over to the table as Dana abandoned it.

As Dana went to join the twins in their rope-making efforts, Logan called out, "Hey, which one of you girls took off your necklace?"

Monica looked up from what she was doing. "You know I don't wear any jewelry..." she started to say, but stopped when she saw what Logan was holding up. Mom's amulet. The one she gave to Dana. "Dana," she said sternly.

"It's my way of letting her know that I'm coming back," Dana explained quietly. "She'll understand."

"Okay," Monica said. "Let's hope she does."

Logan added his name to the note. "My parents are going to freak out when they see this. You guys have a good reason for running away. I'm just tagging along for the heck of it."

"You can always says we forced you," Monica grinned. "Everyone knows how persuasive I can get."

Logan sat on the floor and picked up two sheets. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Okay, let's go over everything one more time," Monica said as she continued tying sheets together. "We climb out the window, we take the bus to the park, cross the street to the grocery store and get 'supplies', and head into the park. We'll set up camp in a picnic shelter in case it rains or something. We'll stay until our food or money runs out, whichever first."

"Then we'll call Amanda at work to check in, right?" John asked.

"You got it," she told him. "If psycho woman is gone, then it'll be safe to go home. If not..." She shrugged.

"Do we tell her where we are?" Logan asked.

"No," she shook her head. "If she's not gone, we can't take the chance she's listening in. But, Amanda will be able to tell our parents that we're okay." She reached for another sheet but found that there weren't any left.

"Okay, let's tie our separate ropes together and get this show on the road."

((((())))))

"I cannot believe you expect me to believe any of this," Eve stated. "The things you just told me..." She sighed. "It's insane."

Ralph put his arm around her. "I know how hard this is for you, my love. But why would I, or any of us, lie to you about something like this? There's no purpose in making up this kind of story. Especially when there are lives at stake."

Eve pushed away from him. "Magic. Time travel. Those are foreign concepts to me, Ralph, Rath, whatever you said your real name is," Eve told him. "I'm a math teacher. I need solid and logical proof that something exists. You know that."

Tina listened to Eve and sympathized with her. She knew exactly how she felt. She had been just as incredulous all those years ago when she had learned she was pregnant with her long-lost first child. Like Eve, she had not wanted to believe what she was being told. However, Eve had the choice of walking away and never turning back. She had not had that luxury.

"Eve, Honey, he has a point," Max spoke up. "Why would they make something like this up?"

"I reacted the same way at first too," Amanda added. "If it weren't for Presley having witnessed their actual arrival, I probably would have never believed it either."

"I was only six," Presley pointed out. "We little kids have a tendency to be completely honest about everything."

Eve exhaled slowly. "It's not that I doubt that any of you are in danger. I do believe you when you say this violent woman is out to harm you." She slid closer to Ralph once again and took both of his hands in hers. "But I just can't accept it when you tell me you're from Ancient Egypt. To allow myself to believe it without proof would go against everything I believe in. It doesn't change how I feel for you. I love you so much."

"As I love you," Ralph told her.

"Well, for what it's worth," Max said, "I believe you."

"Thank you," Tina smiled. Max was such a good friend.

"You're welcome," Max smiled back. "Anyway, now that we're all up to speed on your history with Tia, I think it's time to start planning your next move."

Tina admired Max's leadership skills. It was no wonder she was so successful in the business world. "The main issue is keeping the children safe," she said. "Tia made it clear that she wants to use them as her key to destroying us. We need to make sure she doesn't get her hands on them."

"I agree," Ralph nodded, "but we also need to do the same for you two."

Jack shook his head. "No," he told him. "Our children's safety comes first. As long as they're protected, it doesn't matter what happens to us."

"What?" Max exclaimed. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course it matters what happens to you. You're part of our family."

"Yeah," Presley agreed. "We're one big family."

"You don't seem to understand," Tina broke in. "I don't think it's possible to beat Tia. We only survived our last encounter because she miscast a spell. If she hadn't..." She trailed off.

Jack gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "What Tina was trying to say is that we're only still alive because Tia herself made a mistake. She was too powerful for us to defeat back in Egypt. I'm sure her abilities have increased over the past ten years. We don't stand a chance against her in a direct confrontation."

"Unfortunately, Jack is correct," Ralph said. "Tia was able to cast a spell on me that is still working after all these years. Because of her, I am no longer able to access my magic."

"What are you going to do?" Amanda asked.

"Like we've said, protecting our children is our first priority," Jack told her. "We need to keep them as far away from Tia as possible."

"I'd suggest hiding them," Max said, "but I doubt that would do them much good. Hell, Tia came across time and found your house. It's almost as if she had a homing beacon on you or something."

"In a way, she does," Ralph informed her. "A very basic principle of magic is using a possession of your quarry to cast a tracking spell. Tia obviously has something that belongs to either one of them."

"Do you think she has something from one of the kids too?" Amanda questioned.

Tina shrugged. "I don't know how long she was in our house before Dana saw her. It's very possible she took something."

"I can't believe you two were planning on keeping this from us until the end of the evening," Max commented. "You should have told us right away."

"I agree," Eve finally said after having been quiet for some time. She was still holding Ralph's hand. "You haven't given us enough time to think of a way to help you."

"I think our best chance is to just keep moving," Jack said. He turned his face to look at Tina. "If we don't stay in one place more than a few hours at a time, we might be able to remain one step ahead of her for a little while."

"But what kind of life is that for you?" Max asked. "The kids?"

"The only kind safe for them now," Ralph told her. "As we've said, Tia won't give up until she's killed them and their children."

"Maybe you should get going then," Armand suggested.

"I agree," Max said. "The sooner you get moving, the harder it will be for Tia to find you."

"I guess I better get the kids now," Tina announced. Reluctantly, she pulled away from Jack and rose to her feet.

Max stood up and moved to embrace Tina. "It's going to be all right, Honey," she told her. "We'll find a way to get rid of that bitch once and for all."

"I'm going to miss you so much," Tina confessed. "You've been like a sister to me."

Max stepped back and smiled. "You only say that because you don't have a real one," she teased. "Now, go get your babies so I can say goodbye to them too."

Tina nodded. She turned back quickly to Jack, who reached out to squeeze her hand. She squeezed back before letting go.

She walked out of the living room and headed directly for the stairs. She didn't know how the kids would react when she told them what was going on. They were upset as it was from their own first encounter with Tia.

She prayed to all the gods she knew that it would be their last.

There was an unusual silence as she climbed the staircase. _Strange,_ she thought. _They're usually either rough housing or playing video games by now. They're _ never_ quiet._ Another bad feeling settled over her as she reached the second floor.

The door to Logan's bedroom was closed. She walked over to it and listened.

Nothing.

She knocked on the door. "Monica?"

No answer.

"Logan?"

Again no answer.

Her heart began to race in panic. She turned the doorknob and found that the door wasn't locked. As she pushed it open and looked inside, she saw why no one had answered her.

"Ja-Kal!"

((((())))))

Tia paced furiously as she tried to decide what to do next. Damn Mayati and her interference! The third child had to die with her brother and sister. It was the only way to completely destroy Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina.

The trick would be to keep Mayati in the dark about her plans until after she had gotten her revenge. She knew that Mayati would be furious at the deception and probably kill her as soon as she learned of it.

Strangely, the thought of dying didn't bother her as much as she would have expected it to. All that really mattered to her was getting her revenge. Her life had been destroyed the minute Ja-Kal left her for that slut. Since that day, her every moment had been devoted to repaying them in kind. She hadn't given much thought to what she would do after she had completed her revenge. She would have enjoyed putting her incredible magical powers to use, but if it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't meant to be. If her own death was the price she had to pay to destroy her enemies, so be it. As long as Nefer-Tina and Ja-Kal were dead, she wouldn't care one way or the other.

She came to a stop in front of one of the many windows. It was dark outside and the moon was high in the sky. She guessed it was very late at night. She wondered what the slut and Ja-Kal were doing at this very moment.

_Probably trying to figure out how to keep me away from their children,_ she smirked.

And that was when it hit her.

She would take the children tonight. No one would expect her to make such a bold move so fast. Back in Egypt, she had taken her time and used subtle tactics to ensure the destruction of her enemies. She would have preferred to work that way again, but she couldn't risk Mayati learning of her double-cross too soon. By kidnapping all three children at once, she could still pretend to be keeping her "promise" to Mayati. And, by the time the demigoddess discovered the truth, it would be too late for her to do anything about it.

Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and transported herself back to the slut's house.

((((())))))

As soon as Tia had vanished, Chontra stepped into the now-empty room and cast a spell of her own. She was immediately taken to wherever Tia had gone.

((((())))))

"Pass me another Hershey bar," Logan told Dana, who was in charge of the food supply.

"Sure." Dana reached into the bag and grabbed another chocolate bar. She pulled it out and handed it to him across the picnic table.

"Thanks."

"Monica, is it okay if I have another bag of M&Ms?" Dana asked.  
"Nope," Monica told her. "You've had enough as it is. You don't want to get sick enough to puke do you?"

Dana vehemently shook her head. If there was one think she hated more than anything, it was puking. It hurt!

John looked at his wristwatch. "We should probably find someplace to go to sleep. It's really late."

"Yeah," Monica agreed, glancing at her own watch. "Mom and Dad would be so mad if they knew we were eating junk food this late at night."

"My dad wouldn't care," Logan told them. "He'd be eating with me!"

"Uncle Armand has a bottomless pit for a stomach," Monica decided. "He eats anything!"

Logan laughed. "That's my dad. Mom's been trying to get him on a diet for years."

"I don't think anyone or anything can get him to give up food," John said. "He's addicted to it."

Dana giggled. Then she yawned.

"I think that's a sign that it's definitely time to get to sleep somewhere," Monica said as she stood up. "Here, Dana, give me the bag."

"Okay." Dana give her the food bag, which was slightly lighter than it had been when they bought it several hours ago.

Monica glanced around. "Hmm, where do you think is a safe place to bed down for the night?"

"Well, I vote against the bathroom," Logan announced.

"That pretty much goes without saying," Monica agreed. "The guys' room can't be half as bad as the girls'. Yuck!"

"How about in the tea garden?" Dana suggested. It was her favorite part of the park.

"Why not?" Monica said. "There're plenty of places in there that we can sleep in. Good going, Squirt."

Dana smiled at the praise.

"All right, let's get moving," Monica announced. "The garden's on the other side of this place."

Dana, John, and Logan got up from their seats and then the four children headed back out into the park.

((((())))))

"I just can't believe this," Ralph sighed. "Why couldn't that child have behaved just once in her life?"

"You heard what she wrote," Jack said. "She thinks she's protecting us by running away."

"Her heart's in the right place," Amanda commented. "Unfortunately she's too young to realize that she's only put herself and the others into more danger."

"We need to find them really fast then," Presley put in. "That crazy lady may already be looking for them."

"This is all my fault," Tina murmured. "If only I had told them when they asked, they wouldn't have felt the need to listen to our conversation."

"Honey," Jack soothed, "you know our children. They would have done that even if you had told them. It's not your fault."

"Then why do I feel like it is?" she questioned him.

"Tina, Baby," Max spoke up. "Instead of beating yourself up over something you had no control over, why don't you help me try to figure out where our wild ones have run off to?"

"They could be anywhere," Armand said. "Logan took his wallet."

"Which means they aren't limited to just traveling on foot and can buy food when they're hungry," Max elaborated. "Well, let's try to narrow it down to a few possibilities. Monica, who is no doubt in charge of this little operation, is only ten years old. If you were that age and had a lot of money, where would you go to hide?"

"Hmm," Presley thought out loud. "I know I'd try to find some place that I knew I could have fun in while I was hiding. I would want to make sure there's a lot of people there too. You know, so it wouldn't be obvious I was alone."

"That makes sense," Jack nodded.

"There are only a few places I can think of that fit that description," Tina said. "And, luckily, all of them are relatively close."

((((())))))

After a frustrating search of the empty house, Tia rematerialized in a place that reminded her of the palace gardens back in Memphis. She looked around the deserted area. Where the hell was that girl?

Her plan had been so perfect. The children would have been in grasp and she would have been able to take all the time she needed to devise the ultimate trap for the whore and Ja-Kal while allowing Mayati to believe that the little one was being spared as she had ordered. However, instead of three sleeping children, she had found nothing.

Their hurried escape attempt surprised her. She hadn't expected them to try and run from her so fast. Based on their previous experiences with her, they should have believed that she would take her time in getting her revenge. And, if she knew Ja-Kal as well as she believed she did, he should have been using this assumed time as an advantage.

Their absence was obviously the slut's doing. Ja-Kal would never just run from a problem. He, like Tia, was a meticulous planner and would want to devise the best way to keep his family safe. Fleeing wasn't his style.

The slut, on the other hand, would probably jump off a cliff to escape her. She had immediately recognized the fear in Nefer-Tina's eyes as soon as the tramp came to her children's "rescue". There was no question that the tramp was as afraid of her as ever. She had probably begged Ja-Kal to leave with her and the children immediately and that was most likely why they were missing.

It was, of course, a pointless effort. She could find them anywhere.

She had decided she couldn't take a chance in overlooking any one of the three children and had searched the house for personal belongings. There was a possibility that Ja-Kal would believe the best way to protect the children would be for all of them to separate and have each of them hide in a different place. The only way for her to be sure she found them all would be to cast the tracking spell for each child. This was where she had lost several hours.

Tia had been ready to scream at several points during her hunt. The only items she could use had to be small enough to fit into her belt pouch and the children didn't seem to have many of those. Apparently, in this time, the bigger the toy, the better it was. Luckily, she had found what she needed and was able to begin the search.

She had decided to find the little one first. The spell had led her to this lush garden. The girl was somewhere in this maze of green.

_What a strange place to hide a child,_ she thought as she walked in the direction the spell had pointed her in. _I wonder who they left to watch her._

As if in answer to her unspoken questions, loud voices were suddenly heard out of nowhere.

"Dana? Monica?" came the unmistakable voice of Ja-Kal. "If you're here, it's time to show yourselves. John?"

"Logan Armstrong," a new female voice added, "if you don't come out this minute, you're going to be in big trouble."

"John," the slut's voice called. "Monica? Dana, Sweetie?"

"Well, well, what have we here?" Tia mused out loud.

"We're not mad at you," Ja-Kal called. "We promise."

So, all three of the children had tried to hide from her on their own and without their parents' permission. How precious.

And how perfect.

Tia tightly clutched the tiny necklace she had taken from Dana's room and started running towards the girl's location.

The time for sneaking up on her had passed.

((((())))))

"John? Monica? Dana, Sweetie?"

"Oh, man," Monica groaned at her companions as she was awakened from her sleep. "They're here!"

"How the heck did they find us?" Logan yawned.

"They're just guessing that we're here," Monica told him as she got to her feet. "They've probably checked every other place they could think of."

"We're not mad at you. We promise," Dad informed them.

"See?" she said. "He's fishing for us. He's trying to lure us out."

"Logan?" Aunt Max called next.

"So what do we do now?" John asked, standing up. He pulled a groggy Dana off the ground with him.

"We find some other place in the park to hide," Monica decided.

"I don't know if I can do it," Dana said. "I'm too tired to walk."

"You're going to have to try, Squirt," Monica told her. "You're too big for any of us to carry very far."

"Dana? Monica?" Mom's voice was heard again.

"They sound like they're getting close," Logan commented.

"We better get going then," Monica said. "Squirt, you got our stuff?"

"Yep," Dana answered, holding up the food bag.

"Which way?" John asked.

Monica listened for a second to the continuous calling of the adults. "That way," she pointed. It was towards the direction their parents' voices were coming from. "They'd never think to backtrack."

"That makes sense," Logan nodded.

"Okay, let's move out," Monica ordered.

The four of them started walking.

Unfortunately, they didn't get very far when all of a sudden the crazy lady herself walked right out in front of them.

((((())))))

"John?" Jack shouted out again, hoping to hear a response from his son.

He and the others had been searching for the missing children for hours. Golden Gate Park was the last place they could think of to look. They had already been here a half hour with no success. He was starting to think that finding them was going to be impossible.

He didn't believe Tia had them, though. If she had, she would have come and gloated by now. No, the children had just hidden themselves very well. Monica was smart.

_Maybe just a little too smart for her own good,_ he silently mused. She was a piece of work, that daughter of his. He loved her so much, as he did the other two. He wanted them back as badly as he knew Tina did.

He turned to look at his wife. Tina looked terrible. The children's disappearance was badly affecting her. It was the loss of her first child all over again. And, to make it worse, she was blaming herself for it. Nothing he or any of the others said could get her to stop believing that it was her fault.

"I don't think they're here," Armand finally said.

"I agree," Ralph nodded. "We would have found them by now if they were."

"No, they're here," Tina insisted. "They _have_ to be."

"It's getting very late," Amanda gently told her, coming to place a hand on her arm. "The kids are probably sleeping somewhere by now anyway. We should probably go home and get some rest ourselves. We can try again in the morning."

Tina broke away from her. "No. I'm not leaving here without my babies."

Max started to say something, but Jack held up his hand. Max closed her mouth and just nodded at him.

Jack went over to Tina and took her by the arm. Gently, he led her away from the group. "You know they're right. It's too late to keep searching. We need to get some sleep too."

"I don't care," she told him. "I want my babies back."

"Nefer-Tina." He used her real name to show her how serious he was. "They're my babies too. You know I want to find them as much as you do, but we're not going to be able to do them much good if we're falling apart from lack of sleep."

"How can I sleep knowing that my children are alone and in danger?" she asked him. She sighed. "I just want them back. I _need_ them back. I'm just so afraid..."

She didn't have to finish the sentence. He knew exactly what she was afraid of.

"We're going to get them back," he told her. "I promise."

She looked into his eyes. "Can you really be so sure?"

He didn't know how to answer that. Truthfully, he wasn't very sure. He knew how determined Tia was to destroy him and his family. So, instead of saying anything, he just pulled her into his arms and he held her tightly to him for a few moments.

"Mom! Dad! Help us!"

It was John's voice.

And he sounded terrified.

Tina broke away from him, a look of panic on her face. "Oh god, she's found them!"

"Help! Somebody!"

"Oh my god, that's Logan!" they heard Max cry.

"Mommy!"

"Dana!" Tina breathed. "Oh, my god!"

Jack didn't even bother saying anything. He immediately broke into a dead run in the direction the shouts had come from.

As he ran, he prayed that he wouldn't arrive too late.

((((())))))

Tina was almost panting by the time she saw Dana tearing towards her. She had taken off after Jack and had quickly passed him, her desperation to save her children fueling her. She dropped to her knees and let her daughter run into her arms. She threw her arms around Dana and hugged her fiercely.

"Mommy," Dana sobbed as she clutched against her.

"It's going to be all right, Baby," Tina soothed. "I'm here now."

"Mom! Dad!"

Tina looked up to see John come running from the same direction Dana had.

"John!" Jack called out as he finally caught up with Tina.

"Get out of here!" John shouted. "She's coming!"

But, before he could say anything else, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"John!" Tina jumped to her feet, still holding Dana in her arms.

"Run, Mom!" he called back.

"No!" she shouted. "I'm not leaving without you!"

"Mommy," Dana whimpered.

Finally, Tia came into view. She was dragging a struggling Monica along with her.

"Monica," Jack breathed.

"Get Dana out of here!" Monica called. "Don't worry about us! Run!"

"I wouldn't take that advice if I were you," Tia announced. Then she smiled warmly. "Hello, Ja-Kal. It's wonderful to finally see you again."

"Let the children go, Tia," Jack ordered. "Your fight's with us."

Tia let loose a laugh. "As I told your wife earlier today, your children are abominations that need to be disposed of. They should never have been born.

"Just as the two of you should never have gotten married."

Tina pulled Dana closer to her. She was so afraid of what Tia was going to do. They had no defense against her.

Tia walked up to John and grabbed him with her free hand. The immobilization spell immediately wore off and he started to struggle just like his twin.

_My poor babies!_ Tina silently cried.

"But," Tia continued, "since I currently only have two of them, I am willing to make a deal with you."

Monica and John became still.

"What kind of deal?" Jack questioned.

Tia smiled again. "One that I think you'll find extremely fair. You see, my original plan was to just take all three children and kill them. I wasn't even going to give you a chance to save their miserable lives. But, since you're here and I don't have all three, I've decided to give you that chance after all.

"What do you say? Are you willing to bargain?"

"Possibly," Jack told her. "What would we have to do?"

"It's quite simple really. Turn yourselves over to me and I'll let these two brats go," Tia said.

"No, Dad! Don't do it!" Monica shouted.

"Shut-up!" Tia growled at her.

"Ja-Kal..." Tina barely whispered. Their lives for the lives of their children. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make. She would rather die than allow her children to suffer a moment longer. She knew Jack felt the same way.

Jack looked at her as if to confirm this before turning back to Tia. "That sounds fair. But how do we know that you'll keep your end of the bargain?"

"Dad!" Monica cried.

"I told you to be quiet!" Tia said. She turned back to Jack. "You don't, so I wouldn't rush into a decision just yet. You still have that little one to think about. Because once you're dead, there's nothing you can do to protect her if I change my mind.

"Just to show you how accommodating I am, I'm going to give you three days to make up your minds. In three days, I will meet you right here at this same time. Bring little Dana as well. I think she should witness the events that will decide her future, don't you?"

Jack put an arm around Tina and pulled her close. "We'll be here."

"Good," Tia nodded. "As will I." She smiled again and vanished, taking the twins with her.

((((())))))

Chontra stood in the shadow of the trees. She had been following Tia all night and had hoped she wouldn't find the children. Unfortunately, the insane bitch had, and now two of them were at her mercy for the next three days.

Tia had lied to the parents. Chontra knew she had no intention of holding up her end of the bargain. She was just playing sick mind games with them. Tia was going to kill the five of them no matter what happened in three days from now. The meeting was a trap.

At least the little one was safely out of her hands for now. Mayati would be pleased when she learned that. She'd probably intervene and try save the girl before Tia could harm her. Truthfully, Chontra didn't think even Mayati could stop Tia from killing the child along with her brother and sister. Tia would never allow any of them to live.

Chontra felt badly for Nefer-Tina, the main object of Tia's hatred. She had started crying uncontrollably the moment Tia had teleported away. She did not get the impression that she was the "slut", "tramp", "whore," or any of the other derogatory names Tia called her. This woman obviously loved her children very much and it was killing her that two of them had been taken as hostages. It was of Chontra's opinion that Ja-Kal had made the right decision in leaving Tia for her.

Chontra watched as a group of six other people that included Rath and his new lover joined Ja-Kal, Nefer-Tina, and the little girl. The other little boy who had been with Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina's children appeared and ran to be with the group. A man and a woman, obviously his parents, hugged him fiercely. Another of the three women took the little one from her mother's arms while Ja-Kal took Nefer-Tina into his. She could tell they were all saddened by what had happened. They must all be very close to each other.

The idea that Rath allowed himself to be part of a group like that astounded her. This surprised her more than the fact that he had a girlfriend. It was almost as if he had become a different man since arriving in this new time. Was it truly possible for someone to change so much?

She pushed all thoughts of Rath and getting revenge against him aside. Right now she was more worried about the fates of those children. Rath was not going anywhere. The children, however, were running out of time. And she couldn't let them die.

There was only one possible way to save them, but she did not know if she could do it. It would involve revealing her presence to Rath before she was ready. She would most likely ruin any chance for revenge she would ever get, but it would keep innocent lives from being lost. In the end, if she wanted to save the children, she would have to decide which was really more important to her.

Deep down inside, she already knew which of the two it would be.

Realizing there was no way she could make up her mind tonight, she decided to report back to Mayati and then sleep on it. Things would probably seem a lot clearer in the morning.

((((())))))

Monica was currently too angry to be afraid, but the fact that she had disappeared from the park and reappeared seconds later somewhere else unnerved her a little. It was like something right out of a _Star Trek_ episode. Stuff like this wasn't supposed to be real. It was just too weird.

The crazy lady gripped her arm hard and pulled her and John along after her. "Since I'm sure it's long past your bedtime, allow me to show you to your room," she said as she dragged them. "It's not very comfortable, but it doesn't really matter since you won't be staying long."

"Yeah, because you're probably going to kill us no matter what Mom and Dad do," Monica shot back.

"Monica," John protested. "You're only going to make her madder!"

"On the contrary," Tia said, "your sister is absolutely right. She's quite smart for someone her age."

"I'm smarter than a lot of people much older than me," Monica told her. "I bet I'm smarter than you too."

Tia just laughed. "I doubt that, little girl. Though I do find your high opinion of yourself rather amusing. You obviously do not take after your slut of a mother."

"Don't you dare talk about my mom that way," Monica told her in a low voice.

"I can talk about that tramp any way I want," Tia informed her. "After what she and your father have done to me, I think I've earned that right."

"I bet you deserved it," Monica decided.

Tia came to a halt and moved Monica so she was standing in front of her. "If I didn't need to keep you alive for the next three days, I'd-"

"Tia," a new voice cut her off. "Leave the child alone for now."

Monica kept from gasping out in surprise as Tia dropped into a submissive position. She turned to see a woman walking towards them. She was tall and imposing and gave Monica the creeps.

"I only see two children. Where is the third?" the woman demanded to know.

"I was unable to capture her yet, Mistress," Tia told her. "The slut and Ja-Kal showed up at the last minute and the girl was able to get back to them."

_Mistress?_ Monica thought. _Then that means this woman is Tia's boss!_

"She is still alive," the woman said. "That's all I need to know."

This woman wanted Dana alive? Why?

"You may stand up now, Tia," the woman told her. "Introduce me to your prisoners."

"Yes, my mistress," Tia said as she rose to her feet. "These are the twins I forced Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina to conceive back in Egypt. They were born here and were given names suitable to this time. The girl is Monica. The boy is John."

"My name is Mayati," the woman introduced herself. "Tia is my student. I taught her everything she knows about magic."

"Why should we even care?" Monica asked her.

Mayati smiled. "Because, if it weren't for me, you and your siblings would probably have never been born."

"Yeah, right," Monica said. "And this affects us how?"

Mayati continued to smile and looked at Tia. "This one amuses me. It's a pity she has to die."

"I look forward to shutting her up myself," Tia told her. "She annoys me."

_Good,_ Monica smirked to herself.

"Continue with your revenge," Mayati told her. "Just remember to bring the other girl to me when you are finished. Unharmed, as we agreed."

Tia nodded her head. "As you wish, Mistress."

_Yeah, right,_ Monica commented. _Like Tia is going to let any of us live._

"Let us hope so," the woman continued. "Because you know what will happen to you if she dies."

"Of course," Tia said.

"Good," Mayati smiled. "We understand each other." She started to walk away. "Oh, and by the way, I would like it if you kept me apprised of your progress. I am very interested in knowing how you plan on disposing of your enemies while sparing the little one."

"As you wish, Mistress," Tia bowed.

Mayati simply nodded and then vanished from sight.

Monica could not believe what she had just observed. Was this Mayati as dense as she was acting? How could she believe that Tia was going to let any of them live? Tia was completely nuts. There was no reasoning with someone as wacked as she was.

_Maybe that's our ticket out of here,_ she mused. If she could somehow get Mayati to realize that Tia was playing her for a fool, maybe, just maybe, she'd let her and John go.

It probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a try anyway.

((((())))))

Mayati watched as Tia brought the two children to a small room and locked them in. She made a couple of nasty remarks to them before walking off, probably to go to sleep somewhere.

"Mistress."

Mayati turned around to see Chontra behind her. "I've been expecting you. Is the girl safe?"

"Yes, Mistress. She was able to escape to her parents before Tia could capture her along with the other two," Chontra told her.

"I've met them," Mayati commented. "What do you know of Tia's plan?"

"From what I overheard, she has made a deal with Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina. She claims she is willing to spare the lives of the twins if they surrender themselves to her. If they do not, she will kill the two children. She has given them three days to make up their minds. At the end of that time, they are to meet her with the little girl and give her their decision."

"What about the little one?"

"Apparently, she is not part of the bargain," Chontra said, "but Tia made it clear that if they surrendered to her, there is still a chance she'd change her mind and kill the children anyway. I believe she will kill them all, no matter what Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina decide."

"As do I," Mayati agreed. "I don't trust her to keep her end of our bargain either. Continue to keep an eye on her for me. If she leaves here, you must summon me immediately."

"As you wish," Chontra nodded. "Do you believe you can stop her from killing the child?"

Mayati smiled. "I don't know. But if I can't, Tia will die along with her."

((((())))))

Dana clung to Daddy's leg as he laid Mommy on the bed and pulled the covers over her. Mommy had finally stopped crying, but only because she had fallen asleep. She hated seeing Mommy like this. It scared her.

Daddy bent down and kissed Mommy on the forehead. Then, he stood up and lifted Dana into his arms.

"Is Mommy going to be okay?" Dana asked as he carried her out of the room.

"I hope so, Sweetheart. She's just very sad right now."

"Me too," she said. "I miss Monica and John."

"We all do, Baby," he told her.

Dana rested her chin on his shoulder. Monica and John were in the hands of the scary lady. She didn't even want to think about what was being done to them. She especially didn't want to think about the fact that she had almost been captured too.

She had felt so completely helpless when the scary lady had shown up in the park. If she only had control of her powers, she bet she could have stopped her then and there. She hated the fact that she couldn't protect herself yet. She hated the fact that she was so little.

Daddy continued to hold her as he went downstairs and rejoined the other grownups and Logan. Logan was sitting between his parents and looking really upset. Dana knew why: he blamed himself for Monica getting caught.

When they had started running, he had tripped right away over a branch. Monica, John, and Dana had all heard him go down. However, only Monica had run back to help him, but only after ordering John and Dana to keep going. Dana, of course, had listened, believing Monica knew best. And, she had been the only one to escape capture. John had probably hesitated, but Dana had stopped listening once she started running again.

Daddy sat down on the couch and placed Dana in his lap. "I put her in the guest bedroom. Hopefully she'll sleep for several more hours."

"It's been a long night for her," Uncle Ralph said. "She's going through hell right now. As I'm sure you are too."

"I just don't know what to do," he sighed. "You know Tia is going to kill them no matter what we tell her. Then she'll kill us too. We knew that once she got her hands on any of us that it was going to be over. It's just much sooner than I would have hoped for it to be."

"Are you sure that there isn't anything you can do?" Aunt Amanda asked.

Daddy shook his head. "As we've told you, we have no defense against her. We're completely at her mercy."

"It's just not fair," Aunt Max decided. "You and your family are completely innocent. What gave this insane woman the right to do this to you?"

Dana decided she had heard enough. She turned around in her father's lap. "Daddy," she interrupted before he could say anything, "I want to go to sleep now."

"Okay, Honey," he said. "Okay. Do you want me to tuck you in?"

She shook her head. "No, I'll do it myself."

"I think I'll go up too," Logan announced. Dana looked at him and he just gave her a small smile.

"Good night, Logan," Uncle Armand said.

"Night, Dad," Logan told him. He then leaned over and kissed Aunt Max. "Night, Mom."

"Good night, Sweet Thing," she said.

Logan got up from the couch and went over to take Dana by the hand. "I'll make sure she goes to sleep, Uncle Jack."

"Thank you, Logan," Daddy said. As Dana and Logan began to walk away, he called. "Dana? Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh, yeah," Dana said. She walked back over to him and gave him a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too," he told her. "Now go and get some rest."

"Okay," she said and went back over to where Logan was waiting for her.

He took her hand again. "Come on. Let's find Belle. I bet she missed you."

Dana took one last look back at Daddy. He looked a lot more tired than she had ever seen him. She knew he was as sad as Mommy. She could feel it. But he was trying to be brave in front of everyone. He would probably cry later where no one could see him.

Logan started walking and she went with him. As soon as they were out of the room, she could hear Daddy and the others start talking again. She didn't want to listen to any more depressing stuff tonight. She just wanted to sleep.

They quietly went up the stairs together.

"Where are you going to sleep?" Logan asked her.

"With Mommy," she said.

Logan just nodded. "Good night."

"Good night."

While Logan went to his bedroom, Dana returned to the room Daddy had put Mommy in. She silently widened the door and went in. She crossed the room to the bed. Without a sound, she crawled in and curled up next to her mother.

She fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

((((())))))

"John. John."

John felt someone shaking him and he opened his eyes. It had taken him hours to fall asleep on the hard floor of the "prison" and he didn't want to wake up. But when he saw Monica hovering over him, he sat up immediately. "Uh, what is it?"

"I've got a plan to get us out of here," she told him.

"Yeah, right," he said. "What are you going to do, ask that psycho woman nicely to let us go?"

Monica punched him in the arm. "Don't be such a dork. Remember that other woman we met last night?"

"Mayati? What about her?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but Tia doesn't exactly seem to like her very much," she explained.

"Probably because she doesn't want to let her kill Dana," John commented.

"Exactly," Monica said. "Now, do you really think someone as nuts as Tia is going to let any of us live?"

"No," he said. "Are you going somewhere with this?"

Monica rolled her eyes. "You can be so lame. Of course I'm going somewhere with this! Mayati doesn't want Tia killing Dana, right? So, what if we _told_ Mayati that Tia was planning on killing her anyway?"

"And how exactly is that going to help us escape?" John wanted to know.

"I'm betting that Mayati will be so angry at Tia that she won't notice if we slipped out the door," Monica told him.

"Um, you seem to be forgetting two very important things," John pointed out.

"Like what?"

"One, someone would have to open the door for us to do that," he said. "And, two, Mayati and Tia seem to be able to teleport themselves around. They don't have to use doors."

"Hmm." Monica seemed to think about this. "You might have a point there." She paused for a moment, getting to her feet. "I'll just have to figure out a way to make them come in through the door."

((((())))))

"She's coming," Monica whispered to John as she watched through the door's window. "Get ready."

John got down onto the floor. "Ready."

"Now," she said. Loudly, she called, "Hey, somebody help us! My brother's really sick!"

"Ooh! Oh, it hurts!" John moaned.

"Help us! Please!" Monica pleaded through the door.

Mayati had been walking and talking with another woman that Monica didn't recognize. _Not another one,_ she thought. The two of them rushed over.

"What's going on in here?" Mayati demanded to know.

"Ow! My stomach!" John cried, writhing on the floor for effect.

"Please, John's really sick," Monica explained. "He needs a doctor or something." She put as much panic as she could muster into her voice. "He might be dying!"

Instead of opening the door in concern, Mayati just threw back her head and laughed.

John dropped his sick act in surprise.

Monica folded her arms. "What's so funny?"

"The two of you," Mayati told her. "Do you have an idea how many times I have seen prisoners try to perform the same trick? I would think someone as smart as you would have come up with something more original."

"It was the best I could do on short notice. However, if I had known you were judging, I might have spent a little more time on it," Monica retorted sarcastically.

"Did you really believe you could escape from here using such a childish ploy?" Mayati asked her.

"Actually, no," Monica grinned, "but it did get your attention, didn't it?"

"I see," Mayati said. She looked at the other woman before turning her gaze back to Monica. "And why would you want my attention?"

"To let you know that your star student is playing you for a fool," Monica told her. "Tia has no intention of giving our little sister to you. She wants her as dead as the rest of us."

"You're not telling me anything I didn't already know," Mayati informed her.

"What?" Monica was taken aback. Mayati actually _knew_?

Mayati chuckled. "Little girl, I have known Tia long enough to see right through her lies. Of course she is going to try to kill your sister. I would be disappointed if she didn't."

"What do you want Dana for anyway?" John wanted to know.

"I have been told of her astonishing abilities," Mayati told them. "They make her a rarity among humans. I want to study her as well as teach her how to use them properly. I'm sure even you won't object to something like that."

"Why all this sneaking around then? Why not just come right out and ask our parents to let Dana study with you?" Monica asked.

Mayati smiled tightly. "Because I promised Tia her revenge. Once she is finished, there won't be any need to ask your parents for permission."

"Okay, now you've lost me," Monica said. "You promised Tia her revenge, yet you're not going to let her completely get it? Plus you know she's going to try and double-cross you anyway. I don't know about you, but it doesn't make much sense to me."

"You're far too young to understand such things," Mayati waved her off. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do. Chontra, see that they are fed."

"Yes, Mistress," Chontra, the other woman, said. She murmured something and a small amount of food appeared inside the room.

"Eat up, children," Mayati said. "You need to keep up your strength.

"I'm sure Tia will be wanting both of you to put up quite a struggle before she kills you."

((((())))))

Chontra lagged behind Mayati as they walked away from the imprisoned children. She didn't like the way Mayati had tormented them. In a way, it made her as bad as Tia.

She had to admire the girl. She was impressed by the way she had tried to "warn" Mayati about Tia's treachery. She couldn't figure out what Monica had hoped to accomplish by passing on the information though. Surely she couldn't have believed that Mayati was simply going to let her go? Either way, it showed a lot of spirit and courage on the girl's part.

Someone like that didn't deserve to die so young.

She had come to a decision the moment she had woken up. She was going to tell Rath everything. Once he had the information, he would be free to do with it as he pleased. It would be out of her hands, but at least she would have tried to do something to help these children.

Her revenge could wait a while longer.

((((())))))

Tia leaned back on the bed she had conjured for herself and smiled. Although things weren't going exactly as she had planned, she thought they were actually better. The fact that she only had two of the children made things a little more interesting in the long run.

The "deal" she had proposed to Ja-Kal and the slut was pure brilliance. Let them think they had a chance of saving their children. She couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when they realized they had been deceived. It would make the years of waiting for that moment worth it.

Another plus to this turn of events was that the third child was not anywhere near Mayati. The little girl would remain with her parents until the end when she died with her brother and sister. It would then be too late for Mayati do to a thing to stop her.

As far as she knew, Mayati was still unaware of her intent to kill the girl. She would have to be very careful when telling Mayati about her progress and plans later. Mayati had to be kept in the dark. Unless...

_Unless I go ahead and finish this tonight,_ she realized.

There were many advantages to ending it now. One was that Mayati would not see it coming and wouldn't have a chance to save the girl. Another was that it would just cause the whore and Ja-Kal more anguish. By first offering them time to make up their minds and then taking it away, she was doing more damage than any three day wait period every could. Oh, yes, it would be a good idea to finish this tonight.

It would be the perfect end to the perfect revenge.

((((())))))

"I'll be right back," Ralph told his students. "Continue copying the notes from the overhead while I'm gone. Kim, you're in charge of the transparencies." Holding in his hand the worksheet that he had neglected to make enough copies of, he stepped out the classroom door. He usually was not this irresponsible when it came to his job, but he realized that given the events of last night, he was entitled to a single lapse.

As he started walking towards the copier room, there was a flash of light in front of him and suddenly, standing right in front of him, was a woman he never dreamed he'd ever see again.

"Chontra," he breathed, shocked at her unexpected appearance.

"We have to talk," she told him without preamble. "It's a matter of life and death."

((((())))))

Monica stopped her pacing and plopped down onto the floor next to John. "This sucks," she announced.

"Tell me about it," John said. "I just want to go home."

"I don't think that's going to happen," she told him. "That psycho is planning to off us in the next couple of days."

"Actually," Tia's voice interrupted as she appeared in the room, "I'm planning to, how did you put it, 'off you' tonight."

"Oh, great," Monica commented sarcastically. "That makes me feel _so_ much better."

Tia smirked and flicked her wrist. The twins were magically dragged to their feet. "Let's go pay your mother and sister a little visit.

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see you."

((((())))))

Tina was sitting on the couch with Dana in her lap when Tia and the twins suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Monica! John!" Tina cried, putting Dana down and jumping to her feet.

"Mom!" Monica said. "Don't listen to-"

Tia waved at Monica and Monica's voice disappeared. "That girl talks too much," Tia commented. "I'm just here to let you know that the deal's been changed. You and Ja-Kal are to meet me tonight with your decision."

"What? Why?" Tina asked. She was too shocked to be afraid.

Tia shrugged. "Because I felt like it. And that's all you need to know. I'll be seeing you later."

"Wait..." Tina started to protest, but it was too late.

She had vanished with children.

"Mommy...?" Dana asked, her voice full of fear.

Tina picked her up and headed for the phone. "Let's go call Daddy."

((((())))))

"Why are you telling me this?" Ralph asked Chontra. "I'm not the one who needs to be told."

"Because you're the only one who knows me," she said. "Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina have never met me. They'd have no reason to believe me."

"And I do?" Ralph countered.

"I don't have time for these games," Chontra told him. "If either Mayati or Tia find out I'm here, I'll be killed."

"How do I know that this isn't some kind of trap?"

"Rath," she sighed, "I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I wasn't planning on harming you. I was. But, I can't allow innocent children to be killed. I think saving their lives is far more important than getting my revenge against you."

"I...thank you then," he told her.

"Well, I better get back now," Chontra said. "I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on Tia. Mayati will be furious if she finds that I'm gone."

Ralph reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to leave."

"Excuse me?"

"Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina need to hear everything from you," he explained. "If they have any chance at all of saving their children, it will only be because of your help. They'll have questions that I would be unable to answer."

Chontra hesitated for a moment. "I... All right. I'll go with you," she said. "But don't think this changes anything between us. I still hate you for what you did to me."

Ralph just nodded. "Understandably so."

Chontra seemed taken aback by this response. "You mean...?"

"Save your questions for another time," he waved her off. "All I'll tell you now is that my time here in this modern world has caused me to reevaluate many of my actions in the past. My treatment of you was one of them.

"But, our past history isn't why you're here right now. Follow me. I have a few things to do before I can take you to speak with Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina."

Chontra nodded and gestured for him to lead the way.

((((())))))

Mayati couldn't find either Tia or Chontra anywhere. She wasn't so much worried about Chontra's absence as she was Tia's. Although Chontra should have consulted her before going anywhere, Mayati knew she didn't mean any harm. She was probably just eager to get on with her own revenge. The momentary lapse in judgment could be forgiven. Tia, however, was a different story.

Mayati had a bad feeling that Tia was up to something. Personally, she didn't believe Tia could wait three more days to finish off her enemies. That was one of the reasons she had wanted Chontra to continue keeping an eye on her. She could always have done it herself, but she had figured why waste the time if she had someone to do it for her. If Tia had slipped out while no one was watching...

She rushed to the makeshift prison where the children were being held. She wasn't very surprised to find it empty. So, Tia could not wait after all.

Mayati turned on her heels and headed back to her "room". There she would cast her own monitoring spell and observe Tia's activities as long as necessary. If Tia tried to harm the girl at all, she would be able to stop her immediately. If not, Tia would be taught her final lesson.

One with fatal consequences.

((((())))))

Chontra hung back as Rath led the way up to the door of the house he had brought her to. This was not Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina's, but belonged to close friends.

Rath knocked on the door and a woman answered.

"Thank goodness you're here!" she greeted them. "Something terrible's happened since we talked." She motioned them inside. "Tia's moved the meeting up to tonight!"

"What?" Chontra interjected, surprised. "When did this happen?"

"About an hour ago," Max told her. "Tina was sitting at home with Dana when Tia showed up with Monica and John. Tina called Jack, who called me. They've been here for about ten minutes."

"I should have seen this coming," Chontra said. "Ever since Mayati told her she had to spare the young one, Dana, Tia's been in a hurry to finish this up."

"Mayati is their teacher," Rath explained to Max, who just nodded.

"Then this is all for nothing," Chontra shook her head. She turned to Rath. "All the information I gave you is useless."

"Not at all," Rath told her. "You provided us with many things we were unaware of. There may still be hope for the children."

"Follow me," Max said. "The others are waiting for us."

Chontra followed them to a room where there were indeed others waiting for them. She recognized them all, including the two children, from last night.

"Jack, Tina," Rath said, "this is Chontra. She is a former student of mine from before I came to teach the prince."

Ja-Kal, or Jack as Rath had called him, rose to his feet and extended his hand. "I appreciate any help you can provide us with."

Chontra took his hand. "I don't know what good it will do you now that Tia has changed everything."

"If it will help us get our babies back, we'll take it," Nefer-Tina told her. Little Dana was seated in her lap.

"My idea had been to tell you where the children were being held so you could try to rescue them," Chontra explained. "If Tia is planning on killing them and you tonight, she's probably taken them somewhere else by now."

"I knew she'd never keep up her end of the bargain," Max commented.

"Tia's wanted all of them dead from the beginning," Chontra agreed. She looked back to Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina. "She only made that deal as a way of playing with you."

"We figured as much," Ja-Kal told her. "Tia never had any intention of sparing any of us. She's wanted us dead for too long."

"Yes," Chontra said, "it's practically all she talks about."

"Is there any way to save them?" asked the large man sitting next to Max.

"Honestly? I doubt it," Chontra told him. "She's probably prepared for anything you could try."

"What about you?" Tina asked. "Is there anything you can do?"

"Unfortunately, no," she answered. "No one can know that I was here. If I interfere, Mayati or Tia will kill me. I took a risk just by going to Rath. I shouldn't even be with you now."

"It was my idea for her to come here with me," Rath explained. "We were unaware of Tia's actions until a few minutes ago."

"We appreciate your efforts, Chontra," Ja-Kal told her.

"I only did this because I can't stomach the idea of innocent children being murdered in cold blood," she said. "I wouldn't be here otherwise." She decided to withhold the information that she had originally come to this time only to destroy Rath. "I should probably go now."

"Thank you," Nefer-Tina said.

Chontra nodded and prepared to leave when Rath turned to her.

"Wait. I need to speak with you before you go. In private."

"Of course," she said.

"Excuse us," Rath told the others as he ushered her back into the hall and into another room.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"I..." he started. "I...just wanted to...apologize for what I did to you back in Egypt."

She stared at him, not expecting this.

"The way I left you was cruel and I can't blame you for wanting to hurt me for it. There's no excuse for what I did. I was being selfish and didn't once take the time to consider your feelings.

"I should have taken you with me."

Chontra was at a loss for words. Rath, the man she had spent the last eight years hating with a burning passion, had apologized to her. This was the last thing she had ever expected him to say to her. She had never considered the possibility of him realizing how wrong and cruel he had been. He really _had_ changed,

"I...don't know what to say," she finally responded. "I've...hated you for so long..."

"You don't have to say anything," he told her. "I just wanted you to know. I'm so sorry."

"I loved you so much," she told him.

"I suspected that you had feelings for me," he admitted. "As I had for you."

She gave a small smile. "I was going to tell you that I had cast a love spell on you as a way of hurting you."

"It would have," he agreed. "My feelings for you were very real. If I hadn't been blinded by my ambitions, maybe..."

She placed her fingers against his lips. "You don't have to say any more. I know that you've found someone else. And, I hope she is making you as happy as I would have had you and I remained together." She stepped back from him. "I really must leave now. You need to get back to your friends. They need you."

"Will I ever see you again?" he asked.

"Sooner than you think," she promised him. "Goodbye."

She teleported herself away, hoping Mayati had not noticed her prolonged absence.

((((())))))

Jack watched as Ralph left the room with Chontra. Any hope he had had in saving either the children or themselves went with her. Nothing more could be done. As hard as it was to believe, this really was the end.

"Jack..." Tina whispered in a low voice, taking his hand in hers.

"I know, my love. I know," he told her.

"I'm so sorry," Max said. "When Ralph called me and told me that-"

"It's not your fault," Jack gently cut her off. "None of us could have predicted that Tia would do this."

"What are you going to do now?" Armand asked.

Jack looked at Tina and Dana. "We're going to stay here until it's time to meet Tia. I want to spend as much time as possible with my family."

"We understand," Max said. She stood up and held out her hand. "Logan, Sweetie, I need your help with something."

"Okay, Mom," Logan nodded, taking her hand. He got to his feet.

"Armand?" Max asked pointedly.

"Oh, um, I think I'll go have a little snack," Armand said. "I'm hungry again anyway."

"Thank you," Jack told them.

Max just smiled sadly. "We're here if you need us."

As Max, Logan, and Armand left the room, Jack took both Tina and Dana into his arms. They remained that way for some time without saying a word.

((((())))))

"This has gotta be the dumbest plan I've ever seen," Monica announced as Tia finished tying the twins to a tree.

"Monica..." John tried to hush her.

"Setting the tree on fire and forcing our parents to watch while we burn. That's just _so_ original! I've seen cartoon villains with better schemes," Monica continued, ignoring her wimp of a brother.

Tia chuckled. "As long as it does its job, it could be the most juvenile plan in existence and I wouldn't care."

"That's the problem with you psychos," Monica said. "You take no pride in your work!"

"Monica!" John repeated more loudly.

"What?" she questioned him. "This is a free country. I'm entitled to my opinion."

Tia folded her arms and shook her head. "How your parents ever put up with you I'll never know. You are probably the most annoying child I have ever had the misfortune of meeting."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Monica smirked. "Thank you very much."

Tia approached Monica until she was standing right in front of her. "Little girl, you have no idea how much I am looking forward to wiping that smile off your face."

"Oh, I think I do," Monica retorted. "I'm very good at annoying people."

"I agree," Tia told her. "But after I'm finished with you, the only 'people' you'll be annoying will be dead. Just like you."

"If that's supposed to scare me, you're going to have to try better than that," Monica informed her.

Tia didn't say anything. She just sighed and walked away.

_I'm so good,_ Monica mentally patted herself on the back. She may not be able to save herself or the rest of her family, but at least she could go out driving crazy lady even crazier. She wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of seeing her suffer. Besides, this was much more fun.

((((())))))

Mayati watched as the girl continued to torment Tia. It was an amusing display. Mayati could tell Tia was starting to struggle to keep her composure. Monica was pushing her to her limits. It was a good thing it was almost time for Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina to arrive. Mayati didn't think Tia could keep herself from killing the girl much longer.

Behind her, Mayati finally heard Chontra return. "Mistress, I am sorry I was gone for so long. I was so involved with planning my own revenge that I just lost track of the time."

Mayati turned around to face her. "I would appreciate it if you would inform me of your plans next time."

"I am sorry," Chontra apologized again, bowing her head. "It won't happen again."

"All is forgiven," Mayati told her. "This time."

"Yes, my mistress."

"While you were gone, Tia made a change in her own plan," Mayati informed her. "She has moved everything up to tonight. She is waiting for the parents and the little girl to arrive now.

"It was very fortunate that I decided to check on Tia myself."

"Yes, Mistress," Chontra said. "It is my fault that you didn't learn sooner. I should have been keeping an eye on her as you commanded."

"I don't blame you for wanting to proceed with your own revenge," Mayati said. "However, I am disappointed that you did not think to let me know what you were going to do."

"I know. And I'm sorry," Chontra repeated.

"You have already proven that you are sorry," Mayati waved her off. "Come. Join me while I watch Tia.

"I believe it will be time for me to intervene very soon."

((((())))))

Tina, Jack, and Dana all got out of the car. It was nearly time to go and meet Tia.

They had come alone as they had promised. Ralph and the others had protested and begged to come too, but Jack had told them it was too dangerous for them, which Tina had agreed with. Tia wouldn't want any witnesses to what she was going to do. She would kill them all on sight. Tina and Jack didn't want any more deaths other than their own if they could prevent it. The final goodbyes had been one of the most heart wrenching experiences of Tina's life.

"Mommy," Dana said, "I'm scared."

Tina knelt down and smoothed Dana's hair. "I know, Baby. So are we." She pulled the girl into a hug. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Dana told her. As soon as Tina released her, she went over to Jack. "I love you too, Daddy."

Jack bent down and picked her up. He kissed her cheek. "And I love you."

Tina stood up and put her arms around both of them. "God, I hate this. I don't want to lose either of you. Or John and Monica. I just want everything to be the way it was again."

"So do I," Jack told her. He glanced at his watch. "We'd better get going now. It takes about ten minutes to get back to where she's waiting for us." He put Dana down and took one of her hands.

Tina took the other. "I'm ready," she told him, which was a bold-faced lie. Of course she wasn't ready. She was terrified, more for the children and Jack than for herself.

The three of them set out to where Tia and the twins were waiting for them.

((((())))))

"I think it's time to move to a better vantage point," Mayati told Chontra. "The closer we are, the easier it will be for me to rescue the girl."

"Yes, Mistress," Chontra agreed.

Mayati silently recited a short spell and waved her hand. In an instant, she and Chontra were transported to Tia's location.

((((())))))

Tia stood as far away from the children as she permitted herself while she waited for Ja-Kal and the rest of his family to arrive. She wanted to keep an eye on them but didn't want to have to listen to that stupid girl and her annoying mouth for one more second. She swore if that girl opened her mouth one more time...

The sound of people approaching caught her attention. She shot a glance at the children to make sure they were behaving before moving forward to see who was coming although she had a pretty good idea who it was.

Sure enough, she saw Ja-Kal, the slut, and their youngest child walking towards her.

_Right on time,_ she smiled. _Now I can finally end this game once and for all._

"Mom! Dad!" the boy called as he noticed his parents' arrival. "Get out of here!"

"Yeah!" Monica agreed. "It's a trap!"

"Shut-up," Tia reprimanded them, "before I shut you up."

The children grew quiet, but Monica shot her a look of pure hatred.

Ja-Kal and the remainder of his family stopped several feet away from her. Tia could tell that they were talking to each other, but they were too far away for her to hear what was being said. When they finished, only Ja-Kal continued forward, leaving the tramp and the child behind.

"We're here," Ja-Kal said as he neared where she was standing, "and we've reached our decision."

"I never doubted you would," Tia greeted him. "You always were a man of your word." She gestured towards the tree. "As you can see, I've upheld my end of the bargain as well. The twins are alive and unharmed. What happens next is up to you." It was, of course, a lie, but her ex-husband didn't have to know that until it was too late. Then again, he probably already knew. He was not stupid.

Ja-Kal nodded. "Nefer-Tina and I have decided to surrender ourselves to you. Now, let our children go."

Instead of answering, Tia just laughed. "I knew you'd say that." Without giving them any warning, she pointed her finger and shot a blast of energy directly at Dana.

Before either one of the parents could react, the little girl was being lifted into the air back towards Tia.

"Mommy!" Dana cried.

"Dana!" Nefer-Tina shouted, reaching for her daughter.

Ja-Kal angrily whirled back to Tia. "What the hell do you think you're doing? _This_ was never part of the deal!"

"I lied," Tia smirked as the girl was put down beside her. "You should know by now that I can't be trusted.

"Besides, I won't settle for anything less than the complete demise of you and your entire family."

((((())))))

"Just as I thought," Mayati shook her head. "She couldn't even pretend she was going to spare the girl."

"When are you going to intervene and get the child?" Chontra asked.

"The moment Tia tries to kill her."

((((())))))

"I really can't believe that you didn't see this coming," Tia commented as she dragged Dana towards the tree that held her brother and sister. "Can you truthfully tell me that you thought I'd even _think_ of sparing your pathetic offspring?"

"I didn't think you would," Ja-Kal admitted. "But there was always the slight hope that you'd let them go like you promised."

Tia laughed. "If you thought that, then you're a bigger fool than I ever imagined." She started tying Dana to the tree next to Monica. "None of you deserve to live. You, Ja-Kal, because you took my way of life away from me. The slut because she seduced you into leaving me. And your children for no other reason than being yours. I'd have to be crazy to let any of you go."

"Well, I guess you have to free us then," Monica spoke up, "because you're already nuts."

Tia paused from securing Dana to the tree and backhanded her across the face. "I told you to shut-up!"

"Stop that!" Nefer-Tina cried. "Leave her alone!"

Tia ignored her and finished up with Dana. "You pushed me too far, little girl."

There were tears in Monica's eyes as she answered. "Good. I'd do it again."

"In a few minutes, you won't be able to say anything ever again," Tia promised her. She stepped away from the tree and returned to where she had left Ja-Kal. Nefer-Tina had moved to his side. "Now it's time for the fun to begin. You get to watch while your children die."

"Tia!"

Tia turned to see Mayati step out of the shadows.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Mayati questioned her.

"I'm getting my revenge," Tia answered. "Just like you promised I could."

"You seem to have forgotten one small detail," Mayati said, pointing towards Dana. "The girl is mine."

"I didn't forget anything," Tia told her. "I can't let you have her. She's too important to my revenge."

((((())))))

Chontra held back as Mayati went to confront Tia. She glanced around and saw Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina powerless to do anything because Tia and Mayati were between them and their children.

No one seemed to notice her presence.

Seeing this as her one and only window of opportunity to help the children, she slipped out of her hiding place and rushed over to the children.

"What are you doing here?" Monica wanted to know. "Ensuring that Mayati gets Dana?"

"No," Chontra said as she zapped the rope. "I'm making sure that you go free." The rope fell away from the tree.

"Why are you doing this?" John asked.

"Ask Dana," Chontra told him. "Now, go. Get to your parents and get out of here before either Tia or Mayati notice anything."

"What about you?" Dana asked.

"Don't worry about me," Chontra waved the little girl off. "I'll be fine."

"I'll tell Uncle Ralph what you did," Dana promised.

"You do that," Chontra said. "Now go!"

Chontra watched as the three children hurried off and headed for the waiting arms of their parents. She knew they would be okay once they all left this place. It was herself that she wasn't so sure about.

She decided it would be best not to be here once Mayati and Tia discovered the children's freedom.

((((())))))

"We had an agreement," Mayati said. "I expected you to live up to it."

"I didn't find it to my liking," Tia told her. "You knew what I wanted when you came to me six years ago. Did you really think I was going change that, even for you?"

"Six years ago, this child didn't exist," Mayati corrected her. "All you wanted was to destroy Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina. I'm not stopping you from doing that."

"By taking the girl you are," Tia informed her. "The children are the key to their destruction. Can't you see that?"

"What I see are two other children you can use against them. What difference will one less make?" Mayati questioned.

"There's no point explaining something to you that you'll never understand," Tia said, folding her arms. "I don't care what you do to me after this is over, but you aren't getting the girl."

Mayati clucked her tongue is disapproval. "Do you realize what just said?"

"I'm not stupid," Tia told her.

"No, you aren't," Mayati agreed, "but you are foolish. I had such hopes for you."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tia told her. "But if you hadn't tried to interfere in my revenge, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Now, are you going to let me finish what I started? Or are you going to kill me right here, because that's the only way you're going to get the girl."

"That won't be necessary," Mayati suddenly said, her gaze elsewhere.

Tia turned to where Mayati was looking and was infuriated to see the children making a dash for their parents. "What? How did-?" She whirled around to look at the tree. The rope had been severed, but there was no sign of the culprit.

There was only one person she could think of who wanted her to fail. "That bitch!" she muttered.

"The girl is no longer your prisoner," Mayati said. "We have nothing more to discuss."

She started to walk away, but Tia moved into her path. "No, I'm not letting you take my revenge away from me."

"Get out of my way," Mayati calmly told her. "I want that child."

"You can't have her," Tia declared. "She's mine."

"You're starting to try my patience," Mayati said. "Now step aside or suffer the consequences."

"Mayati..." Tia started.

"I am telling you one last time," Mayati warned. "Get out of the way."

"Never," Tia declared.

"Fine," Mayati shrugged. "Have it your way." A knife appeared in her hand. "I warned you what would happen if you ever disobeyed me again."

"I'd rather die than allow anyone to keep me from my revenge," Tia told her.

"As you wish." In one swift motion, Mayati's hand shot out and Tia's throat was slit with the knife.

((((())))))

Tina couldn't believe what had just happened. Even as her babies clung to her, the reality of what she had just witnessed had yet to sink in.

Tia was dead.

The other woman, whoever she was, had simply killed her. They had been arguing over which of them got Dana. Tia wanted her dead while the other woman needed her alive for some reason. Tia had not backed down, despite an apparent agreement that they had made. So, the woman had just killed her as a way of ending the fight.

The murderess stepped over Tia's fallen body and started coming towards them, most likely still intent on taking Dana away from them.

"That's Mayati," Monica murmured. "Tia's boss. She wants to study Dana or something because of her powers."

"Over my dead body," Tina said with a courage she didn't feel. She had almost lost all three of her children once tonight. She couldn't bear to go through that again for even one of them.

"I don't want to go with her," Dana said. "She scares me."

"Don't worry, Baby. She's not going to touch you," Jack promised.

Mayati continued to make her way towards them.

"Jack..." Tina whispered.

Jack moved in front of her and the children. "Stay behind me."

Mayati finally stopped about three feet in front of them. "I have no interest in any of you except the little one. Give her over to me and I'll let you all go."

"You can't have her," Jack told her flatly.

"I just went though this with Tia and you saw what happened to her," Mayati said. "I'm running out of patience. Your daughter needs to be properly trained in her abilities. I'm the only one who can do this."

"She's only seven years old," Jack protested. "She's just a child."

"It's best to start training them when they are young," Mayati explained.

"You don't want to only train her," Monica spoke up. "You want to study her too!"

"Monica, hush," Tina told her eldest.

"Monica needs to be taught some manners," Mayati commented, "but she is exactly right. Dana has extraordinary abilities. They are very rare in normal humans. I would like to study her as well as teach her."

"But I don't want to go with you," Dana announced. "I want to go home."

Chontra suddenly appeared next to Mayati. "Mistress, I'm starting to think this is giving you more trouble than it's worth. If the girl doesn't want to go with you, do you really think she would make a good student?"

"Yes," Mayati said, "perhaps you have a point." She paused a moment. "What took you so long?"

"I...remembered that I had something to attend to," Chontra answered.

"You will have to tell me about it once we return to our own time," Mayati told her. "I'm afraid you will not be able to proceed with you own revenge this time."

"That is all right, Mistress," Chontra nodded. "It is not as important to me as it once was."

To Jack, Mayati said, "It seems you no longer have anything to worry about. Your daughter is yours to keep."

"Thank you," Jack told her. "Our children are very important to us."

"I've noticed," Mayati agreed. "I will take my leave of you now. I don't expect our paths to ever cross again. Chontra."

"I'm ready, Mistress," Chontra told her.

In a flash of flames, the two women were gone.

Tina fell to her knees and held out her arms. The three children all rushed into them, nearly knocking her over.

"Oh, my babies. My precious babies," she said over and over, kissing them repeatedly.

Jack turned around and silently watched the happy scene. He couldn't even begin to describe the relief and joy he was feeling at this very moment.

It was over. It was finally over.

((((())))))

Monica tugged at the collar of the dress she was being forced to wear. It was practically strangling her and she hated it. Getting dressed up sucked big time. Why did they have to have dinner at this stupid restaurant anyway?

She glanced across the table. Dana, who had just turned eight last week, looked perfectly happy in her own outfit. The squirt just loved dressing up. And, as always, she wore Mom's pendant. That thing never came off her neck anymore.

Monica's eyes traveled until she found John. He didn't seem to mind being forced to wear a suit very much. _The wuss,_ she decided. Trying to earn him a tough-guy image was a lost cause. He was terminally uncool.

Finally, she gazed upon her parents. They looked so happy. Mom was gorgeous, as usual, and Dad, of course, was very handsome. It was hard to believe that only three months ago they had all almost died at the hands of that psycho lady.

Dana still had nightmares about the whole thing. Monica had had a couple of bad dreams, but they had faded after a few weeks. John had been so badly shaken that he had been unable to play any of his instruments for about a month. She didn't know about Mom and Dad though. They didn't like to talk about the incident at all. But, then again, who could blame them?

"Ralph," Miss Eve was saying, "would you like to make the announcement or should I?"

"What? What announcement?" Mom asked. "Is this the big secret you've been keeping from us all week?"

Miss Eve smiled knowingly. "You could say that."

"Go ahead," Uncle Ralph said. "Show them."

Miss Eve held up her left hand. On one of the fingers was a beautiful diamond ring. "We're engaged!" she beamed.

"Oh, congratulations, you two!" Aunt Amanda grinned. "I was starting to think you'd never get your act together!"

"It's about time!" Uncle Armand added.

Aunt Max swatted him on the arm while Logan giggled.

"I'm so happy for you," Dad told them. "I wish you all the happiness in the world."

"You two deserve it," Mom said.

"I propose a toast," Presley announced, holding up his water glass. Everyone else picked up theirs as well. "To the future. May it be filled with joy and good stuff for everybody."

"A little unconventional," Aunt Max said, "but it works for me. To the future!"

"To the future!" everyone agreed.

** _ The End _**


End file.
